emmipea's Profile

In the course of the last three years, I went from a rural 4 bedroom, 2200 SF house to a 500 square foot 1-bedroom city apartment...and I wouldn't change a thing. You really can do this! I didn't sell much - i decided to give it away to folks who could use it, remembering a time when i was using crates for furniture and others gave me nicer things. I gave boxes of beloved hard cover books to a senior home and got a Kindle. I gave my large sectional, spare bedroom set, recliners and dining hutch to my sister. I hauled boxes of dishes to Goodwill and blankets to the animal shelter. I scanned boxes of photos and put them on a hard drive. I kept telling myself "it's just stuff." I kept the things that meant the most to me - a few good pieces of furniture, my good cookware, and my artwork. It wasn't easy, but I find comfort in being able to vacuum my entire sunny city apartment without ever having to change outlets! Best of luck to you Jenifer!

I don't have room for a table or bench, so I hung an old, sectioned box on my wall by the door, complete with a couple of screw hooks in the bottom to hang keys. It's similar to this, but smaller: http://bit.ly/15EYOoG. The cubbies are perfect size for my phone, sunglasses, etc. - no floor space required. @cwyankees: Anthropologie has lots of beautiful decorative hooks and knobs.

I had a wonderful potluck Thanksgiving - comprised of 10 work friends without other plans or nearby family. I have a (not quite) 500 square foot apartment, but luckily a big balcony. I supplied the turkey breast, a Gardein roast (for my veggie friends), and a cauliflower gratin. Guests brought the mashed potatoes, vegan stuffing & gravy, green beans, roasted asparagus apple pie, pumpkin cheesecake and wine...lots of wine. Oh - and chairs and a folding table, because I only have a small table and 2 dining chairs. Three additional friends dropped by for a drink before dinner, so at one point I had 13 people in my small space. It was a lovely occasion, with everyone pitching in. I am truly blessed to work with a group of people that I actually like enough to want to see on my off hours.

I could never get pizza dough to come cleanly off of my pizza peel and onto my preheated pizza stone. Now I place a piece of parchment on top of the peel before I shape my pizza and it slides onto the stone easy as can be. Note that I cook my pizzas on very high heat (550) so I pull the parchment paper out from under the pizza after about 3-4 minutes of cooking.

A classic!

Actually I think a dinner party is the perfect time to cater to your guests - whether their diets are by choice or necessity. I cook to show I care and providing fare compatible with someone's diet, to me, is a matter of respect. Why would I invite someone to dinner and knowingly provide them with food they don't eat?

I guess we're in the vast minority...my husband and I don't allow our 3 cats to sleep with us, but not for sanitary reasons. We allowed them to sleep with us until Titus appeared 3 years ago. With his arrival, a huge pecking order battle took place - the victim being our sleep. I'm not a great sleeper to begin with, but I was awakened throughout the night as they vied for the desirable piece of real estate next to my pillow. We tried again after everyone was on friendly terms, but it just didn't work out. We let them in our bedroom and they can join us for naps, but that's it. I feel bad, but I'm sure I'm a much better, more patient cat mama when I've had the sleep I need.

I'm not sure about the current "couch wall" - if your TV is directly across from windows, depending on the angle of the sunlight, you might have a lot of glare. I'm not a fan of looking at a TV when it's not in use. What about hanging it above the mantel with one of those artistic flat screen covers?

I think Peruvian lilies are alstromaria...quite a bit smaller and without the scent. But they seem to last forever.

I learned to cut the stamen out about 10 years ago. I came home from work only to find my arrangement of lilies a bit askew. It didn't take me long to figure out which of my 3 cats had been at them...my all-white cat had an orange snout. The stains in her fur must have lasted for 2 weeks!