nadarine's Profile

Well, apparently most people with commenter accounts will hate this (hi! I'm from Chicago, City of Hella Haters, I can take it, kids), but I did a likewise out-in-the-open shoe storage project this year: http://www.nadarine.com/2010/02/get-on-good-foot.html

I own somewhere near 100 pairs of shoes, and I have one small closet in my apartment. ONE. SMALL. CLOSET.
Sneakers and flip-flips go in under-the-bed lidded plastic totes; heels, boots, and flats go on the floating wall shelves.
I will say that it makes picking out shoes each morning a far more enjoyable process, and it also a good reminder to only buy shoes that are "wall-worthy". If I don't love them enough to display them, after all, do I really need them?

@NewYorkStateofMind: they look like photograps from this Etsy member: http://www.etsy.com/people/lesleysico

Bulleit bourbon, or on budget-tightening weeks, Old Overholt

Laphroaig (I had some Laphroaig cask strength this week, and oh lord, that is swoonworthy)

I started a list a few years ago titled Things To Learn To Like. Success stories thus far include: blueberries, pickles, capers, unsweetened yogurt, and olives.

I'm still working on raw onions and fennel, and I've got no interest in learning to like potatoes or ketchup. (yes, I know, bizarre.)

I found a bowl of truly sad-looking and wilted beet greens (leftover from, uh, Thanksgiving beets) in my fridge last Monday, and sauteed them with a bunch of chili in hopes of making them into a decent dinner.
They turned out to be a perfect pairing with the cornbread I baked, and topped with a slow-poached egg, it was a rather amazing dinner, considering how unappetizing those greens looked while they wilted in the back of the fridge.

I'm a big believer in hot breakfasts, like laetitiae. Generally instant oatmeal (especially Trader Joe's whole-grain cranberry oatmeal), or lately, my own homemade cranberry-cherry oatmeal. I mixed up a huge batch of oats with fruit in the crock pot a few weeks ago, scooped it out into individual servings, froze these lumps, and now store them in big bags in the freezer. I chuck one lump into a bowl in the morning, microwave for 2-3 min while I make coffee, and sit down at the laptop for a hot breakfast and a quick spin through my RSS feed.

Mmmm. Fresh figs (my fruit obsession) and donut peaches. I should grab a watermelon at the market, too.

Like MissMae, I was a picky child, and now I'll eat nearly anything. Formerly revolting but now crave-able foods for me include:
tomatoes
olives
mayonnaise
capers
real butter (I know, it's weird: but I grew up strongly preferring margarine!)
hamburgers
pickles

Thanks for all the input, everyone! Yes, my concern was whether painting over particleboard would work- though it sounds like with some sanding and priming, I shouldn't be so fretful. I'm not sure that a stain would work well on a plastikcy-finished particleboard, so I'll probably go the paint route.

(and thanks for the reassurances that they're not THAT ugly- somehow they photographed well and look better than they do in person. ha.)

Mac and cheese, definitely. And chocolate chip cookies.