MaggieG64's Profile

Agree with edw. I'm pretty good at following a recipe, and my dough turned out as described in the recipe. I doublechecked my quantities. But still these came out dry with zero flavor from the tomatoes or cheese. Very disappointing because the idea and the pictures are great.

It's interesting: I prefer the picture of the cozy environment, but my home is more along the minimalist lines. What I did was buy warm-looking furniture pieces (both in structure and color) while keeping the _amount_ of items in check.

I just moved into my first apartment that has a laundry hookup, which I promptly hooked up to a brand new washer and dryer. I often say the little laundry room is my favorite room in the place. Prior to getting a washer and dryer, laundry had to be carried out of the apartment, out of the building, into the car and into a laundromat (which I know probably half the readers of this blog have to do, but I always found that process outrageous). Needless to say, I loathed it. And I was always behind, with dirty clothes and clean clothes conspiring to "take over the bedroom," as you say. Six months after moving, I'm still in a honeymoon phase with laundry. I do it at least weekly (more now that I've gotten back into swimming and using more towels) and it's almost spiritual — I truly appreciate how easy it is to do laundry at home in efficient new machines, and the fresh smell and tidiness that arise from it make me feel good. Keeping up with laundry is a launching point for me to keeping the rest of my home clean.

I used to iron everything I wore because I was always behind on laundry and often plucked things out of a laundry basket, things that had been sitting in there for days (or longer — gah!). Now I hang up clothes out of the dryer right away, and feel comfortable that they are neat enough without the iron. Plus once, a friend of mine put on a shamefully wrinkled skirt fresh out of her suitcase when we were on vacation and I was appalled. She said, "Relax, wrinkles tend to fall out once you put clothes on." And by the time we got to our dinner destination, her skirt looked fine. Clothes in with fabrics are more resilient than we think, and I find most clothes are good enough for most casual circumstances.

I live by myself and just got my first dishwasher last summer. I was suspicious of it at first as though it were a wild animal slouching in the corner, and I didn't even use it to clean all my dishes and pots and pans as I unpacked them! (Which now I look back on and can't believe.) I only use it maybe once a week on average because, yes, it takes too long to fill, so the rest of the week I wash my dishes by hand. That once a week is generally because someone visited and we used dishes or because I got lazy for a couple of days. It is wonderful to have the option, but so far I've treated it like an option and not let it run my kitchen life. Even though I'm far from a persnickety housekeeper, dirty dishes in the sink and searching for a dish and fork is usually more stressful than just washing them.

Nah, I'm too chicken if it's explicitly verboten. But I did paint three access walls in my new place because this landlord has the sort of tacit understanding that you're likely to do something like that embedded in the lease: there's specific dollar amounts for each wall that has a color on it that you'll have to pay when you leave. The leasing agent shrugged her shoulders about painted walls when I asked about it and admitted she had an accent wall in her own unit.

Call me faint of heart. Just looking at these makes my palms sweaty.

However good you think True Grit might be based on the movies, it is way better. I don't remember the last time I so thoroughly enjoyed a read.

Great post. Last year I finally embraced the fact that I was still renting because I really don't want the financial drain (taxes, maintenance, etc.) of owning, nor was I ever going to be the type who would for one minute enjoy any of the maintenance of home- and land-owning. I love small living, I love calling the landlord when there's a problem, and I love saving cash as my form of investment. So last year I finally got my crap together and moved from the third-floor walkup one-bedroom I was so unhappy with to a spacious two-bedroom (with a laundry room!) on the first floor of a well-managed apartment complex in a nice neighborhood. I asked a friend to help me design it, tossed all but the most treasured of my possessions, and am now living in a place I truly love. I downsized my possessions even as I upsized my home, and I feel so much more mentally healthy there, and so look forward to being there, that I can hardly find words to describe it. I spent money on this for sure, but I was financially ready, spent less than I would have on mortgaging a new home and I'm back on track with my savings. I'm talking about a bigger version than your suggestion of just fixing up what you're in, but I really related to it because, as a renter, I have learned to get what I want rather than wishing and hoping for something else, or wishing I was a different kind of person. Vive la renting.

Well I'd like to take a mindful moment to thank you for this terrific post!

I have an evite out right now for a Dec. 1 event. I wish I could buy just enough food and drink for the RSVP'ers and, when people who didn't RSVP show up, tell them to leave the goodies for the people who did!