mollywtx's Profile

I recommend Spare the Rock Spoil the Child -- http://sparetherock.com/wordpress/ . It's a great kid's music show on a local radio station in MA, but you can also listen online or as a podcast. It includes most of the kids' artists listed above, kids music by musicians who primarily write for adult audiences, and regular ol' rock songs that are family appropriate. It's pretty great.

I've lived there for a couple years now, and it's great. We love our (affordable, cute, solar-powered) house and our neighbors. Come visit!

1C, 2B, 3A, 4D. Me=4

I was a beginning vegetable gardener last summer, and I used this book as a guide:
http://www.amazon.com/All-New-Square-Foot-Gardening/dp/1591862027
It was great for a smaller space, and I had very few utter failures. Since you're not doing a giant patch of any of your "crops," if you screw up, no big deal. The variety allowed is also really nice. Year two is already off to a great start.

I have the same feeling about some of my hate-tos, so I also timed them. Unloading the dishwasher, I can do in 3 minutes. I discovered that blow drying my hair (no, not a housekeeping task, but it feels like a chore for sure) takes 4 minutes. I'm glad I timed these out so I can remind myself of the reality of the situation when I'm feeling grody. Granted, these are pretty self-contained tasks that won't lead to more like, say, reorganizing my t-shirt drawer after sorting laundry. Guilty.

A couple of other timing-related household tricks I've adopted are 1) If it takes less than a minute, do it now (from Gretchen Rubin) -- small stuff, like hanging up my coat or putting a glass in the sink, and 2) If I only have 10 minutes to clean, I set a timer to keep myself on task. It's less daunting when I know there's an end in sight. It also helps with the motivation. Maybe I clean a little more efficiently if I know I've only got 10 minutes before I've promised myself some hi-kwality intellectual reading material (Lucky, for example).

I didn't know what my dream kitchen looked like until I saw your picture. Congratulations on your lovely home!

I second Cherrydale in Arlington and give an even bigger thumbs up to Fraeger's Hardware on Capitol Hill in DC. An amazing store with a very helpful staff. I still don't know how they fit everything in there AND remember where it all is. It is so much fun to shop there!

I've seen that fabric at the College Park, MD, Ikea. They definitely have two birdie-related patterns (one with a light brown accent color, and another with a gray-blue accent color), and they also have the fabric version of the new Billy shelf door pattern with the blue and green trees.

I definitely do the timer thing for small projects and cleaning. If I'm feeling strapped for time and give myself, say, 15 minutes to clean a room, I'm always amazed at how much I can get done.

I agree! DC people should definitely check it out. Very friendly service. (And Rachael -- check your stationery vs. stationary use. :-) )