chapstick-addict's Profile

I had mice in a Brooklyn apartment once. Every day, mouse droppings on my "kitchen" counter. Around the bar soap. I very quietly sat one night & waited. One came out. It was the size of my pinky finger. Went STRAIGHT for the bar soap. Turns out, they eat it. Got rid of the soap & the mice didn't come back. Really weird.

I cancelled my FB account one day, 5 years ago, after I could not remember my password. Before I reset it, I thought about how FB affected my life, and I decided that it caused me more anxiety and stress than anything else. So, I reset my password, and cancelled my account. I have never regretted it, or looked back. Life is SO much more simple now!

My sister, on the other hand, is 34, single, lives at home with our parents, has nearly 1000 "friends," and is a chronic over-sharer. She is one of the people who posts cryptic messages just to get attention. She posts health information about our parents – who are private people and do not even KNOW more than 5 of her "friends" –especially our mom, who has undergone multiple procedures this year – which she exploits for personal gain. They have repeatedly asked her not to, and she just can't (won't?) stop. I get texts and calls from mutual friends, relatives and acquaintances with messages and questions regarding things she has posted, which is how I even find out about it!

My cousin is worse. She is 33 and FB is like an extension of her brain. She posts every piddly thing she does, "going to the gym," "at XXX restaurant," "at the mall," etc. She is single, also lives at home with her parents, and posts 400 pictures of her pug every day. And all the exciting things she is posting about, trying to make her life seen exciting (to her ex, who left her at the altar)? She is doing them WITH HER MOM, although she never posts about THAT, everyone knows it.

Facebook: devil in disguise.

At 37, I FINALLY gave in & purchased a few good knives: 8" Wusthof Classic chef's knife, Wusthof Classic santoku knife (7"?), and a few different Victorinox paring knives (which are really cheap, & Swiss made.) My parents had given me a couple of hundred dollars for a gift (which was completely unexpected & very generous.) My mom specified that I must purchase good knives with it – because she was sick of hearing me complain about how terrible my knives were! (I must have complained a LOT.)

Without question, these few knives have improved my kitchen life a thousand fold. I should've done it years ago but I had no idea just how important knives are to someone who even likes to cook just a little bit.

I still don't have a food processor and I don't have a kitchen aid mixer, but I can prep food efficiently and happily with my knives.

My only regret is not buying them 12 years ago!

Just wanted to say THANK YOU for this tutorial. I have a galley-style kitchen that was totally screaming 1982. The cabinet faces were real oak (which I absolutely HATE) but they were a really ugly 80s color oak and totally greasy & filthy when I moved in. The sides, bottom, and interiors of the cabinets are all laminate particleboard.
I followed these instructions almost to a "T" – including the exact primer & paint – and it came out FANTASTIC. (I did borrow a random orbit sander from a friend, to sand the laminate parts, which was messy and laborious but worked.) I took off all my hinges, boiled & scrubbed them, and spray primed & painted them silver, from the nasty dirty brass they were. Then I painted the filthy off-white walls a pumpkin orange color.
It took like 3 weeks of nights & weekends, but my kitchen went from GROSS to AWESOME even the building superintendent is impressed. (it's a rental, but fortunately, they let me make improvements. Anything is an improvement over what I moved into.)

One day soon I will get a blog going and post the before & after shots. It's really a crazy amazing difference.

Thanks to Kathleen for this. You made my windowless galley kitchen a happy place to be :)

I've had very good luck with Craigslist!
I found my Brooklyn apt on CL, and the movers who moved me there from Manhattan.
I found a guy with a pickup truck to pick up me AND furniture I also bought on CL (two pieces, two different locations) and deliver to my apt.
I found guys who packed the uhaul I drove from Brooklyn to Syracuse NY when I moved there (to a flat I found on CL.) I bought a coffee table in Manhattan that I picked up on the way.
I hired guys from CL to unload the uhaul in SYR.
When i first moved to SYR, I had gotten hooked up with a freelance design gig through a friend there. I needed a microwave, and found one on CL. It had an anonymized email; I got an email back from the seller – who was my friend who got me the gig!

I snagged a Heywood-Wakefield dresser & mirror for $50 on CL. (The guy told me he'd sold the matching chest of drawers just an hour earlier! Why he didn't post as a set – or mention it in his dresser posting – just kills me. I only searched for "dresser.")

I found my next flat in SYR on CL, but ended up breaking my lease & getting sued by my landlord (who was trying for $5k and only won $600.) He was the worst! That was my only bad CL experience.

Finally, I found my current apartment in Skaneateles NY on CL.

I'm sure it won't be the last CL experience!

And, currently I'm in an $800/mo heat included 2br with huge bath, dining & living areas, galley kitchen, 22 stairs to my apartment on the 2nd floor of a 100+ year old building, smack in the town center of Skaneateles, NY. No hardwoods, but 15 ft ceilings, 7 closets (2 walk-in), glass doorknobs, & French doors between living room & hallway. Steps away from and views of one of the cleanest lakes in the world right from my living room. 2 miles from work. Short of living in a big city, this is the best place on earth!

Maestro: look at Central / Western NY state. Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo. Lots of folks from downstate NYC area are moving up to the Fingerlakes area (Skaneateles & Ithaca) and you will really be surprised what you can get here for your money. All the things on your list, too.

Yep. Bora Bora is the #1 spot on my list, which is quite extensive. A girl can dream...

I love it. I live in a space w "great bones" too, but really ugly carpet everywhere, which I can do nothing about. I'm being resourceful & covering them with kilims & bohemian patterns. I'm inspired to paint the interior of my front door that onyx color, for sure. Daniel's style is similar to my own. Maybe I can be in this contest, too, one day :)

Just saw a storage coffee table in WestElm.com that has storage inside but also when open, pulls up to double as a desk surface. Considering buying because we like to work from the couch, plus it's on sale!