Kat88's Profile

It seems the headline here is "Otherwise-Average Suburban Yard Lacks Big Lawn Furniture"

If there is indeed something of note here, it's really fallen victim to Vignette Syndrome. I don't have a sense of the space at all outside of a few plants fresh out of the nursery and some cute rainboots.

It was hard to give up the under-cabinet space in my tiny bathroom, but I agree that keeping cleaning supplies in the bathroom has made all the difference for me. Instead of having to run to the kitchen and get distracted on the way by 10 other things or just not bother to do it, I can just grab a paper towel and take care of it right then. Also makes it easy if, for example, friends unexpectedly come back to our place after dinner to excuse myself to go to the bathroom and give things a 60-second wipe-down just to make sure nothing's too gross since my bathroom is also the guest bathroom.

Out of curiosity, agrayson, did that study compare thermal mug + joulie to thermal mug alone? Seems like the mug is doing all the heavy lifting in that equation...

These are all lovely ideas for teacher gifts--my poor mom gets more breads/cookies/things that will either spoil or take up fridge space during the holidays from her students than she and my dad want or can use. These are all relatively healthier and will all keep til later in the year when she'd be happy to pull them out and enjoy them! (Someone gave her some chai mix last year that she passed along to me and I just enjoyed the last of it a few weeks ago!)

Reformer. I thought quite cautious, since for our first Thanksgiving hosting I decided to only try to change the most egregious dish: marshmallow sweet potato casserole (though eventually we plan on ditching the turkey and all his friends). Apparently radical, though, since I just spent 20 minutes on the phone with my mother, who just couldn't comprehend what other way I could possibly fix them.

Oooooh Emmi, I agree about the dogs! People need to keep in mind that no one else thinks your dog is as adorable as you do and might not enjoy being jumped on or licked. Especially for dressy occasions when I might be wearing a skirt with tights, I don't particularly appreciate having my hose run by your pup's claws!

Thanks for all the helpful tips!

The one time I brought a neighborhood friend into the house spontaneously, my mom freaked out and yelled at me because the house wasn't clean enough for guests (we were like 6, we didn't care), so I've always vowed to try to keep my own house reasonably "drop-in guest-ready."

My biggest challenge spot is my bathroom, which is also the guest bathroom. I keep a container of those ready-to-go wipes (I get the Mrs. Meyer's ones for cheap at TJ Maxx) in my bathroom cabinet so that if, for example, guests come in for drinks after dinner (so I haven't had the 10 minute warning), I can excuse myself to go to the restroom and sneak in there to give everything a quick wipe-down.

My biggest tip, though, is noticing cobwebs and dustbunnies when visiting my friends' houses, realizing I don't care, think no less of them, and am just glad to be seeing them, and realizing they probably feel the same at my house. :)

Can I just say you guys are really doing a great job with these slavery-awareness posts this week? This is a subject near and dear to my heart and work, so it's great to see it more discussed from all corners, but you all are doing it thoughtfully.

So many places would have presented it with a tinge of "Slavery still exists, but use this app and it'll be all fixed!" I like that you're insightful enough to realize this is probably a good tool for introducing the idea to kids or maybe helping someone convince themselves not to throw away their 6 month old phone for a new one, but you don't pretend that it goes much deeper. Sure, in general, everyone needs less stuff than they have, and it's good to have to think about that every time you want to buy something. But everyone does need some stuff (eg, I blissfully gave up my car for public transit, but my transit provider still has to get trains to haul me around, so I'm probably still supporting slavery in my transit), and stuff comes from somewhere, and I'd like to know how to avoid supporting slave labor when I do need that stuff. While I don't really feel like this app is helpful for that, I love that you're starting the discussion.

Thanks for this. Post and discussion both fascinating!

Yes on the cupcakes. The whole cupcake thing needs to die now that everyone who ever saw a romantic comedy is opening their own cupcake shop. Got dragged to one the other day for a $6 cupcake that justified its unimaginativeness by being the size of my head...so then it was neither good nor a cupcake.