zero's Profile

Agree with E.I.F. above- Joanne, you are an artist, do yourself and your house a favor and cover those walls with some large paintings! I know a lot of people give artists shit for hanging their own work, but when you are young it is the best way to make your house look great.
I know people expect a lot out of AT, but I think it's nice to see other young people that are just starting out, without tons of cash, and just starting to find their vision...

Malia,

My daughters are girl scouts and are not required to sell cookies.
My kids' troop will give the girls order sheets if they ask for them, but encourages them to instead participate at a sales booth at school or at the nearby park, which I think puts less pressure on them to individually acheive some ridiculous goal.

If you need to bring a dessert, by far the easiest thing to do is get yellow cake mix, some whipped cream, and strawberries (fresh if you can get them, otherwise, drain frozen ones). Bake the cake, refrigerate it. Once it's cold, spread whipped cream over the top. Slice the strawberries, cover them with some sugar, and spread evenly over the top. Keep the cake cool as long as possible.
Every office where I have ever worked, I have made this for at least one potluck. It manages to feed a good amount of people and they consistently LOVE it and request it every time we have a potluck from then on. It is very easy to throw together and not too expensive. Never any leftovers.

mh330, it depends on your area and where you are leaving the trash as to whether it is illegal or not for someone to go through it. As an example, if it is out on the curb, not behind a gate/fence/enclosed space, then it is not necessarily illegal. Also, some areas consider taking items meant for recycling to be stealing, but not items meant for trash. I really think this is a little silly. The items are being recycled one way or the other, and if it is really that heavy a concern, then take the recycling to the facility yourself.
(And consider yourself lucky that you even have the option to put it out- in my neighborhood, they still will not allow curbside recycling because they don't think enough people would participate in this part of town.)

Heard somewhere (You Bet Your Garden, maybe?) that you can put these, uncut, in your house and they will leave a beautiful orange scent in the room. Dying to try it...

(Sorry for the long comment, but you hit a nerve with this one)
Pay super special attention to old brick foundations. Go on a day after it has rained and check the basement/cellar/ crawlspace interior for any leaks. You may not see evidence of water until well after the rain has stopped. Poke around at the joint of the basement floor and the walls. Make sure the bricks there are solid and the mortar is secure. Be wary if you notice any part of the foundation walls look covered over with mortar/cement or painted or recently replaced. Ask questions!!!! Keep in mind that any water can lead to elevated humidity and that can equal bugs/termites/mold/rot/any number of problems you will not want to deal with.
Don't get me wrong, I adore my 120-year old rowhouse, but there are definite problems. We had a serious water infiltration problem, as do many if not most of the old rowhouses in this area. A common solution is to have them come in, dig a trench around the foundation interior, and put in a drainage system that leads to a sump pump, but this does not keep moisture out of the house, which is the main goal. We were able to replace the bricks that had been basically reduced to dust by years and years of water erosion from the outside, but have not been able to find the source of the leaks. Our neighbors on both sides swear they do not have any water issues- it is THE most frustrating thing to deal with, because even though the water does not leak in anymore, we know we have only put a band aid over it.

This seems like a great idea, in theory. But that net looks like a very fine mesh and would really only let through fine particles of dirt. All of the other, bigger, grosser crap would stay behind, and you'd still have to wash it again.

FYI, for those in or around Baltimore, there is The Loading Dock. Very similar to this (there is a small membership fee), basically a warehouse full of reclaimed construction materials, appliances, etc. Definitely worth a look.

Oh, I have loved this since the moment I laid eyes on it long ago, but they are way out of line pricing it that high. Definitely could be done with thrifted belts, and you can use a much less pricey backing.

Normally, I would agree that the whole "rented by Argentinians" thing would be odd except if you read the article. The fact that they are Argentinian is actually of significant focus in the piece because of how they choose to use their space.
That said, Aaron, I think maybe you should have chosen your words more carefully to emphasize why you are saying it. As it stands, the phrase seems terribly biased.