AvesMaria's Profile

This sounds counter-intuitive, but my best cure for cabin fever is to get out in the winter weather and go walking, hiking, winter camping, or bike riding. Especially early in the morning or during the occasional pretty sunset or sunny day. City streets, hike/bike trails, and favorite rural spots look so different and are so quiet in winter with no green and a blanket of snow! Great for wildlife spotting, being alone with your thoughts, or having a peaceful stroll with a friend.
Plus, when you get home, it makes your house seem much warmer than it would if you just sat at home. :D

We always have tap water with lunch and dinner, room temperature with no ice unless it's very hot out. Even if we've got beer or wine. I do keep a Brita pitcher on hand - it improves the taste of our water - but we don't drink fizzy water or soda and I tend to only buy it for parties. I grew up with room-temp no-ice water with meals so I thought it was normal, but I can tell now it's not that common in the US and we probably do it like that because my family is Italian. My husband's from the south and his family either has cola or ice water with every meal.

Um, I'll also say that anyone who says drinking water with a meal is bad for you because it dilutes your stomach acid has never suffered through dry mouth. You need moisture to chew properly, too.

I second the shearling slippers. Nothing makes me feel as cold as getting icy feet while walking on wood and tile floors.
As far as easing getting out of bed, treat it like you're camping in cold weather - wear long underwear and socks to bed so you aren't cold when you wake up. Stash your undies/underlayers for the morning at your feet or under your pillow and put a few items of clothing on before you even get out of bed. Sleep with a hat, or at least put one on when you wake up. In our house (also expensive to heat) I wear hats indoors during the coldest months of winter.
I also keep a robe near the bed, draped over a radiator so it's toasty warm for my bleary-eyed shuffle to the bathroom.

Ooh, I love it! I especially like how the brushstrokes give it an organic quality that keeps it from looking too mechanical. My own closets are a bit too dark and cramped for me to consider doing this.

My husband and I had pretty different holiday traditions growing up as far as the food we ate, when we did the tree, etc. Our traditions are maybe 1/2 our families' traditions and 1/2 new or unconventional ideas we come up with as alternatives to things we secretly didn't like around the holidays, but never changed because they were "tradition."
Example: Neither of us really like turkey, so this Thanksgiving we opted for roast duck with some favorite family dishes from both sides. It was delicious and I don't think I'll ever make turkey again.

Sure is ugly, but I can't argue with the practicality of the idea. Plus, like lorint says, it would put my plants out of mischief's way.

I second the utility of a flat file. It has changed the way I store my paper, both new material and finished works.
New ones are really expensive; I was lucky to snag a steel flat file on Craigslist from some architecture students who were moving. I really would recommend a used one since they are much cheaper, and often the only thing wrong with them is a few scratches. Libraries, art schools, law firms, architecture studios, and contractors' offices are other good places to look.
In addition to glass jars I also save yogurt cups, coffee cans, and really any container that could be repurposed to hold rags, brushes, water, paint tubes, pushpins, etc.

Oh, and, I'd be pissed if I lived in some of these states and saw these associations with my home. Flashers? Trashy people with butt-word pants? No thanks.

My favorite recent use is to halve blossoms lengthwise and toss them in a Thai-style coconut soup. Any spring veggies in the soup would be a great accompaniment to the blossoms. You don't really need to cook them - we placed them in the soup right before serving and the residual heat was enough to make them just the right texture.

I guess these look neat, but ... won't the paint peel and the chalk wash off in the rain? popsicle sticks and marker seem like an easier way to label seedlings.