tallsarah's Profile

Have you thought about papering over the darth vader fridge? I've seen contact or wall paper used & it looks pretty good & would brighten up that area. Paint stores always have random rolls on clearance.

I also agree about adding under cab lighting. Ikea makes plug in LED strips for about $20 each & that would help out tremendously. You can add a hanging pendant over your kitchen table easily- no electrician is needed for a plug in kind. Sure, you'll see the cord, but you'll gain some much needed light. If there's anyway you could hang a small fixture over your sink, too, that will help out while doing dishes.

Also, clear off your counters as much as you can. It appears you have lots & lots of appliances, crocs of utensils, etc. Figure out what you use every day & put the rest away in cabinets. All that clutter is blocking your bright clean counters.

We are teaching table manners to our children slowly. Sometimes if the kids are arguing at the table, we'll play the game "what would we do if the President & his family were dining with us here?" It's pretty fun. We talk about what we would make for dinner, where we would all sit (hilarious to think about in our tiny dining room), if we would feed the Secret Service the same meal, and how would we behave. We are planning on hosting a formal dinner & invite another family (probably serve 6 courses i/o 10-14). The kids are super excited about it & we practice how to behave & how to set the table, etc. And before we go to someone else's house for dinner (friends or grandparents), we talk about what's expected of them- napkin on lap, take small bites, chew with mouth closed, thank the cook, try everything, no complaining, wait til everyone's done before asking to be excused. Just the fact that they try to do most is great with us.

Growing up, I always thought about my grandmothers while dining. Well, maybe not always :) One was a vocal stickler for manners. The other was quieter about it & always modeled great behavior. Even now, I think about their emphasis on good manners, and despite different approaches, both had a big influence on my behavior. Sometimes different situations call for different levels of formality. It's hard to learn the nuances as a child, so I am working with my kids on reading the situations. They will learn. And it's fun to teach them!

I had a boss that color coded her files. It was supposed to make things easier to find, but it was a real pain. I mean, how long does it take to just read what's on that tiny tab, anyway?

I prefer to spend more time making the visible spaces pretty. The stuff that gets put away in drawers can look like plain manilla folders for me. For those that love to make everything look pretty, go for it. I don't mean to sound snarky, I promise!

@Pi- hilarious!

Can you request a fridge from the hotel? That seriously is limiting. If they won't provide one, can you bring your own really good cooler? Colman makes a super strong one that works very well with ice blocks, so you can keep drinks & cheese, etc nice & cold for several days at a time.

Grain salads, roasted veggies. If you make these on the weekends, then you can bring them for the 1st couple of days on the road, provided you have a cooler. If there's a coffee maker in the room, you can make instant oatmeal.

Sorry I don't have more options. I'm sure many others will chime in!

In early living together/ married life, we didn't have in house laundry. So every other week (or every 3 if we were really stretching it), we would cart the huge bag to the laundromat. We used to take turns, but then realized it only took about 2 hours on a weekend to do the laundry together. We'd fold there using those big tall tables & then cart it all home. Once or twice a year, we'd pay the laundromat to wash & fold for us.

Now that we have 2 kids (ages 9 & 7), I do probably 10 loads of laundry a week. It's utterly ridiculous, I'm aware. The kids are very active & play outside lots, so their clothes get pretty dirty. I do all the sheets once/ week & towels get done twice per week. We use cloth napkins, so those need washing often. I air dry 1/3 of the items (to prevent shrinkage) and iron just our bedsheets (a wonderful free luxury) and my husbands work shirts. I hang those immediately out of the dryer so they need just a quick touch up. I wash all of our sweaters & air dry them (even wool & cashmere- the dry cleaners doesn't get them clean, only chemically). Now that winter is ending, I have huge piles of sweaters & winter gear in the basement waiting for me.

There are some days (like today) where I will do 4 loads of laundry. It will feel great to have it all done & put away. Then tomorrow I'll be staring at more! At least I will be able to wait til Friday for the rest :)

We have a vintage lazy susan style Heywood Wakefield coffee table. The original finish is starting to wear down, but, hey- it's 60+ years old. We haven't had to worry about dinged kids and we try to only let washable markers & crayons into the house. Adults do enough damage on their own when not using coasters.

Since it's a spinning table though, we did have an issue at one Christmas party where a 1st grader decided it was a great thing to sit on & spin. Um, no, honey, our house is NOT a playground. Ugh. And her mother was sitting right next to the table. I thought I was being wise not to put a plate of appetizers on the table, in case a kid spun it around. I had no idea that a kid would think it was ok to play like that on the furniture.

I love understanding why everyone chooses certain appliances.

When we did our kitchen 5 years ago, it was very important that I could easily fit 3 half sheet pans into the oven, so we got the GE Cafe full gas model. It has a super roomy main oven & a lower oven that cooks up to 450 degrees. I love it. I just wish my hubby hadn't been so firm on using the crappy Ikea vent hood. It's waaaaaaayyyy too loud.

I'm looking to replace our fridge (not done in the reno), but am having a hard time as I would love to do counter depth, but I need a big fridge (I cook most meals for our family of 4) and having a 2nd fridge is a terrible energy hog. And it has to fit in a specific sized space. And be glossy white.

We got a panel dishwasher & I love the way it looks. We have the GE Monogram & it's awesome as a dishwasher. The only problem is that we chose the wrong kind of handle. Actually, just not a strong enough one. So our handle broke off last December after 4+ solid years of heavy use. And we can't get the panel off the DW to fix the handle! So now we have to select an outside mount handle that will just look weird in the kitchen. Ugh. I know, first world problem.

I'm jealous of the cities that have curbside compost pickup. We compost in our yard, but I would love to get rid of the gunk that I can't compost instead of using our trash or disposal. Our town is "looking into" it, but it'll be at least 10 years, I'm sure.

So beautiful!!! My cakes are never sturdy enough to lift them & then roll around in the sprinkles. Even with a few minute freeze. I would have rainbow cake explosion all thru my kitchen.

Bittersweet chocolate tart with caramelized clementines. Un.freaking.believable.