Octavia82's Profile

We don't have a great system. I do about 90% of the laundry, and my hubby will do a load now and then. However, to him the job stops when he takes the clothes out of the dryer, and he will let a basket of clean clothes sit unfolded got weeks unless I initiate the folding process. Drives me crazy. I generally wash sheets, towels, and undies on one of the weekend days. Tee shirts and socks get washed when we have enough for a load. It squicks my hubby out to have undies and socks in the same load, and even though I never thought about it before he brought it up, now I kind of feel the same way. Pants get washed more infrequently -- we tend to re-wear them a few times so end up with a pants load once every few weeks. Delicates and sweaters get their own load and get divided into lights and darks, and very special items like cashmere get hand-washed once in a blue moon. I get annoyed when I have things that don't fit in with any of these categories -- for instance, I can't bring myself to wash household things like napkins, placemats, dishcloths, cleaning cloths, etc with a load containing either socks or underwear, and these things take a long time to accumulate in big enough quantities to justify a load. Overall, we really don't have THAT much laundry, but it still feels like it's never done...

Another Seattle transplant here, and my experience is that I've met a couple good friends through my husband's job (he has lots of co-workers while I have virtually none in SEA (my boss is here but my other colleagues are scattered throughout the country). Not so many through my volunteer work or activities, though. I guess i just need to be more proactive about getting together with those people outside of the organized events, but it's hard. What I'd really like is to make a friend or two in my neighborhood, but that is the hardest of all, it seems -- I was hoping to at least chat with some people on the bus, but nobody ever looks up from their smartphones and it feels so intrusive to try to start a conversation! It's a very quiet neighborhood and everyone seems to have either lived here for 60 years or is totally wrapped up in kid-stuff, but I can't shake the feeling that there must be a few people around who want to do Couch To 5k together, or have a book club, or SOMETHING. I just need to figure out how to find them...Anyway, I'm in for AT meetups, hangouts, whatever...as dearly as I love my hubby and the people he has introduced me to, I do need a bigger circle of friends here.

Where was this post a couple years ago when I was moving here? That said, I'm not sure I agree with the way you've grouped the neighborhoods. I'd put Lower Queen Anne, Belltown, and Downtown in one group (historic buildings and newer mid-rises with mid-to-upper range prices), Upper Queen Anne and Magnolia together (more single-family homes, townhomes, duplexes, and more necessary to have a car), Capitol Hill and First Hill ("Pill Hill") in a separate category from Madison Park/Madison Valley and Madrona (your descriptions were accurate, IMO, but it doesn't make sense to me to group these areas together unless you're going purely by geographical proximity), and I guess Pioneer Square, the ID/SODO, and the Central District in another group (although the vibes of those areas are all quite different).

I would also add South Lake Union (Amazon Country -- sleek and expensive new condos and rentals, some great new restaurants, ongoing development), Eastlake (along the east side of Lake Union between downtown and the University District, mainly newish midrise apartments and condos and some houseboats, some nice views but right along I-5), and South Seattle, particularly Columbia City ("up-and-coming" and therefore less expensive, lots of townhomes, access to the light rail line into downtown).

Seattle is really more of a collection of neighborhoods all strung together than a cohesive city, so picking the right neighborhood is crucial. It's not super easy to get from one neighborhood to another thanks to traffic, drawbridges, lakes, the Mercer Mess... If you don't like your neighborhood you probably won't be very happy here. I had no choice but to find an apartment long-distance and move sight unseen and I spent the next year wishing I had just spent the money to get a hotel or short-term rental for a couple weeks and done my apartment-hunting when I was actually here.

I'm in Seattle, another "kid-sparse" city, but I live in a neighborhood known for being family-friendly. It's actually very suburban, despite being in the city. But on the whole, I really don't notice kids being around much -- you'd think there would at least be some in the grocery store or places like that, but it's rare. Maybe one parent takes care of the kids while the other runs errands? Who knows. I don't have kids yet, though, and I'm wondering if I might just have blinders on and will start noticing kids out and about once I have my own.

There are CFLs that are meant for use with dimmer switches, but they are expensive. I have one lamp with this type of bulb and I think the single bulb was about $10 at Lowe's. Fortunately, it does seem to work just fine. I have about six other fixtures in my house with dimmer switches and am planning to wait until the current incandescents die before putting in dimmable CFLs.

I really like Ellie Krieger's energy bars for a quick breakfast or snack. The recipe is at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/energy-bars-recipe/index.html. There are a lot of ingredients, but they're really easy to whip up and they freeze well. They're much better than the prepackaged ones you can buy in stores!

I think of a casserole as a combination of a starch (pasta, rice, bread, etc) and vegetables with a thickened liquid as a binder, all mixed up and baked in the oven. For breakfast casseroles, leave out the veggies (or sub in fruits) but it's pretty much the same definition.

1) Meatless lasagne with spinach, tomato sauce, and a ricotta-bechamel mixture.

2) Upscale chicken divan (my parents make it with goopy canned cream soups and mayo, but I prefer homemade sauces).

3) Brown rice with lots of veggies and sometimes chicken chunks in a mornay sauce.

I'm so happy about the revival of the casserole...I'm not fond of the ones with lots of processed junk in them, but there's something so wonderfully comforting about a really good, homemade casserole.

I'm incapable of using one of these without sending waves of hot soup everywhere. No matter how hard I try, the only thing an immersion blender is good for in my hands is creating a giant mess. My parents own one but I have no desire to get one for my place (and my hubby would flip if I came home with one more kitchen appliance). Maybe I'll re-think when we have more space, but it's low on my priority list.

My husband and I just bought a memory foam mattress from Essentia. The company claims that it's free of the chemicals that offgas from most mattresses (especially synthetic foams), and it's actually manufactured in North America! I've been sleeping amazingly well since it arrived. It's expensive, but totally worth it.