adamwa's Profile

you have to be careful with these, when they first came out my partner and i were a bit guilty of overspending on these "deals" So far we havent wasted any. We have mostly gone to buying deals for things we will do anyway, its always a treat when your favorite restaurant or shop comes up on these deals.

Somewhat unrelated but if you are planning travel dont forget to sign up for groupons/other deal sites for your destination, we have gotten some great eating out and activity deals for vacations by subscribing again for different cities after we have booked a trip.

maybe my condo hoa is unusual, but they post reminders in the elevators for these tasks. since a lot of the systems are interconnected and we are all responsible for the building its in the interest of everyone that things like smoke detectors, pipes, and air systems stay nice.

i like both parts, but my absolute favorite marinade recipe calls for a whole cup of just the very bottom white parts, so im always buying bunches of scallions just for the bottom part! Usually it takes 3 bunches! Too bad you cant plant them upside down.

What strikes me is not how many people are fixated on technology while eating but at how poorly adapted their living space is for their actual lifestyle. I see a lot of laptops propped up on tables and meals on laps. Being realistic with our lifestyle, we have online streaming set up to our big screen tv, and a nice comfortable bar-height table with a good view of the tube. It may not be the most formal set up but its practical and true to how we live. It allows us to sit down and enjoy our meal properly and comfortably while we watch something. This is actually pretty much the only time we watch tv.

With technology we are more connected than ever before. My partner and I talk and check in with each other several times throughout the day. Especially after a routine day by dinner time there isn't much left to share with each other. For us, dinner is often a quiet time to wind down right after work before we start our evening. Even if we have things to discuss it seems like we wait till after dinner, or if dinner is taking awhile in the kitchen while we finish preparing it.

well like anything in a relationship, its all about compromise and give/take. we always decide on major purchases together and overall how things are going to look.

In some circumstances things are a bit more weighted towards one person - I do most of the cooking and dishes so I have final say about functionality in the kitchen. I also work from home so the office caters a bit more towards me too since i spend 8-10 waking hours in there every day.
My partners favorite place to unwind is the bedroom and so he has made a lot of the choices in there. He also has to rush out the door in the morning so the bathroom and closet cater a bit more toward him getting ready efficiently since most days I just put on a pair of PJs for work i let him have the prime real estate and final say on functionality there.

Like a lot of AT readers our bed is where we do a lot of different things (laptops, books, kindles, even the occasional craft while watching a movie) and so task lamps were pretty practical but we didnt really want to get rid of our more soft mood setting bedside lamps for harsher task lighting.

So we got 2 cheap task lamps from ikea (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10128734/). After carefully inspecting them in the store we realized they didnt need the bases, a quick trip to the hardware store for some extra supplies and we had them mounted behind the headboard in the center. The reason for this is if someone is up late reading the light points from the middle out to the side of the bed, instead of the edge pointing in, which bothers your sleeping partner a lot less! We mounted the inline on/off switches right on the back edge of the headboard too. Its very easy to reach back and switch it on or off, and even your partners if they left it on on accident without crawling across the whole bed to their night stand. Since they are flexible you can also bend them down and you cant even see them. Great $25 solution for anyone who wants to add a bit of hidden task lighting.

$100 a month? that sounds a bit excessive! Thats a lot of peoples whole monthly budget! Maybe they are talking about bigger households than a single or a couple.

Ive found that once again it all goes back to planning, when planing out a menu for the week I see first what we already have that needs to be used, then decide what im making, then check to see what I dont have and buy it. When you approach meals this way its hard to forget about something or end up with too much forgotten stuff.

like others i do try to rotate things forward (old in front, new in back) to use staples like onions, eggs, etc first.

Dont forget those extra veggies and stuff can be frozen to use for stock later when you have enough! Extra meat scraps usually become doggie treats.

We are at about once a month, the reality is living in Colorado most people have fairly spacious homes even around downtown. so our little condo is usually not first choice for hosting too many people. On occasion it happens tho, i think the record is about 20 people we had over for pizza before going out on our birthdays (both of our birthdays fall so close we just celebrate together).

i have some great stackable containers from the container store i put bulk spices in, home made mixes, and other odds and ends in. Otherwise they are in the jars they came in or spare jars that fit better. Its not pretty but its logical. The stackable ones are also 4 different sizes, for some spices we use a lot of it makes sense to keep a larger container handy. I then have a large overflow box in the top of a cupboard for all the bulk, extras, and infrequently used stuff.

I installed these in my kitchen when we redid it, they make those fake drawer fronts on the sink functional, everyone who sees them always says they want them! Great for keeping a sponge and a pad and they pop right out and into the dishwasher for easy cleaning when they get too grimey
http://www.amazon.com/Rev-Shelf-Stainless-Tip-Out-Cupboard/dp/B000J2FK40