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Display Name: elicenter
Member Since: 1/23/08
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I've taken naps in a couple different parks around town, but I wouldn't dream of sleeping there at night.

Many of the row houses in my neighborhood on Capitol Hill have some form of what my parents refer to as 'sleeping porches' which, when screened in to keep mosquitoes at bay, are remarkably comfortable.

These porches, in addition to balconies and the growing number of rooftop decks around town are a much safer option than sleeping on a park bench.


Apartment Therapy New York | Survey: Would You Sleep Outside in a City? Washington DC
8/13/08 8:41 AM

I live in a carriage house.. so while my apartment is under 300 square feet, the only way I could have a closer parking spot would be to move -into- my car.


Apartment Therapy Los Angeles | How Close to Your House is Your Parking Spot?
7/9/08 1:00 PM

These little things sound absolutely amazing - and they're so portable, you'll want to take it with you everywhere!


Apartment Therapy Unplugged | Flickr Finds: Tivoli iPAL In The Wild
6/3/08 2:35 PM

Great idea! I bought two of those drawer things in white just a few months ago.. perhaps they're sold out?


Apartment Therapy Unplugged | Look! Ikea Bedtable Turned TV stand
5/14/08 9:51 AM

Nice job! Funny, though: of the thousands of onions i've cut, I never once thought to leave the root end on before I started, and always had a 'butt' of perfectly good onion left over at the end after I was done.

I feel like a homer (d'oh!) for not knowing already, but it's better to find out late than to live on in ignorance.


Apartment Therapy The Kitchen | How To Dice An Onion: The Video
4/22/08 1:10 PM

One tip I picked up in a pastry class: when making an all-butter pie crust, try replacing 1 tsp the ice water with lemon juice. (mix it all in the ice, no problem)
I've long forgotten the rationale the chef explained to us, but based on my use of it over the past few years, I can only guess the lemon keeps a butter crust from getting greasy. Works like a charm for sweet and savory alike!


Apartment Therapy The Kitchen | Recipe: Basic Pie Crust
4/11/08 9:59 AM

I'm strictly an online dictionary user, but I love looking through the massive unabridged versions I find in libraries.

That said, I have two copies of the 'New World' Spanish-English dictionary I picked up in High School (ISBN 9780451188748) - one in my travel bag, and one at my office. It seldom fails to come in handy.


Apartment Therapy Chicago | Is Your Dictionary on the Shelf or Online?
3/25/08 1:20 PM

If I were the lucky winner, the first thing I'd make would be an old-school (duck, sausage and lardons) cassoulet. I always thought it a perfect dish for a crock pot.. but since this also works as a dutch oven, I could try it both ways! Oh, the possibilities!


Apartment Therapy The Kitchen | Thursday Giveaway: Crock-Pot VersaWare Slow Cooker
3/13/08 9:47 AM

I'd simmer it down to a liquid, strain the solids out of it, and store it in a jar for use in cornbread, biscuits, stews, bean dishes and anything else that requires a little grease.

One idea would be to use it in cassoulet instead of lardons. As much as I hate to deny myself the simple luxury of bacon, some people in my life don't want to see it on their plate.. yet they always seem to like the dishes I make using bacon grease / fatback.


Apartment Therapy The Kitchen | Reader Input Needed: How to Use Porkback
3/7/08 6:39 AM

I use candles of whatever kind suits my whim, often times they're the only color intentionally displayed in my loo.

The image in this post concerns me, though; it looks as though there should be a caption reading:

This message brought to you by Target.

..or was the product placement purely coincidental?


Apartment Therapy Los Angeles | What do you use for your bathroom air freshener?
3/3/08 10:39 AM

Three pieces of advice are all I can offer:
1- Have patience
2- Have distractions handy
3- Have a drink

I recently picked up a malm bed and the tall malm dresser (5 drawers I think) - The whole project took a couple hours to complete, but with the help of a couple beers and some miami vice reruns, it went off without a hitch.


Apartment Therapy New York | NY Good Questions: Is IKEA's Malm 6 Dresser Hard to Assemble?
1/31/08 6:31 AM

A few months ago after driving cross-country to attend my high school reunion, I came home to DC and found my door wide open. Everything of moderate value (to a crackhead at least) had been stolen, from radios and computers to tools and poker chips. Yeah, even poker chips.

I still worry about that door, and every time I come home my blood pressure spikes just a little bit until I see that it's still closed. Fortunately, the stress wanes a little more every time I go home.

I dealt with the loss (did I mention I had no renters' insurance?) by thinking of the incident as a check on my materialism, and trying to focus all the negative energy (grief, anger, etc) to on the things that actually matter in my life.

It sounds cliche, of course, and was far easier in theory than it was in practice. In the end, though, I had developed a great coping mechanism: when I think about loss, I reflexively focus on my family, my friends, my job, or any of the number of things that mean more to me than anything that can be stolen.

Most of the time, that is. A little catharsis (batting cage, driving range, or grilling a steak) is needed now and then to round out the self-prescribed therapy.


Apartment Therapy New York | Danger Too Close to Home
1/28/08 12:14 PM

My studio apartment's sink is tiny and has no adjacent counter space, so the solution I came up with is keeping a sink-sized dishrack -in- the sink full time. I'll pull it out on the rare occasions that I have to pour things into the disposal, but keep it in place otherwise. Nice thing is, once I do the wash, I can put it all out on the rack and give it a good rinse with the spray nozzle.

I imagine this only works b/c I live alone, and I try to wash/hand-dry my cookware as I go along.

PS- I find it necessary to soak the rack in bleach once a week to keep things clean.


Apartment Therapy Los Angeles | The Dish Rack Debate
1/23/08 10:19 AM