Rhett Butler

Of Biographies and Cheese

October 25, 2011

Part of blogging and Twitter is writing a bio for yourself. It seems simple, after all you just jot down a few fun facts and call it a day. It is, in fact, a lot harder than it seems. Being witty, being honest, sharing something others might find interesting -it is downright exhausting. I recently had to tweak a bio (for the Curvy Girl Guide) and it really got me thinking about who I am and how to describe myself.

I mean, does anyone care that I vaccuum out the dryer? Or is that just weird? (For the record: my Mom says it is weird.)

I could list my favorite television shows but I’ve been informed my list is “interesting” and some of the shows I like are in bad taste. I don’t care what you say, I love Justified and I’m always going to watch it. (Unless this Direct TV-Fox Network fiasco continues, and in that case, well, you’ll be hearing from me.) I also like Glee, Criminal Minds, Grey’s Anatomy, White Collar, Suits & Royal Pains. We are giving Prime Suspect a go this season, I’ll let you know how it turns out. But I don’t watch any reality shows, I don’t watch any of those “real” housewives shows and I never saw Lost. Not once.

I honestly have more scarves and ballet flats than is normal, but as soon as the temperature drops below 68 degrees I wear a scarf every day, so I think these are wise investment pieces.

I only have, at any given time, one or two pairs of jeans. What can I say…I find a pair or two I like and I stick with them! I’m loyal to my jeans! And if I’m changing my ballet flats and scarves every day, who cares?

I drink a lot of still water and a lot of sparkling water but I rarely drink Coke of any variety. I cut myself down to one cup of coffee in the moring (the caffeine withdrawl on Saturday and Sunday was getting exhausting) which I enjoy with unsweetened almond milk. In law school I went to Starbucks every day…but in recent years both my taste buds and my wallet genuinely enjoy my home-made coffee. I drink it out of a Starbucks mug though, so really it is almost the same. (Kind of.)

I start planning for my Thanksgiving meal in September. B’s family comes from Detroit and this year The Namby Pamby will be eating turkey with us. I like to carefully plan each menu item, create a schedule of events, and make and freeze my cheesecake and Thursday-morning-cinnamon-rolls in advance. (Both freeze beautifully). The actual week of Thanksgiving I make different side dishes each night, and the Wednesday night before I polish silver, set the table and brine the turkey. It is all laid out in a meticulous list (where I also add up all the ingredients for every dish I make so I buy enough butter and cream) and calendar that I create and recreate by hand every year. But….I love it. And my turkey is carved between 2-3 and every year and I serve it with piping hot side dishes…so I think I”m doing ok.

I like to try my hand at DIY crafts, but for the most part, my efforts go into the trash can. I have a poor eye or a crooked hand, and somehow my projects never turn out the way I envision. That said, I have three I’m giving a go in the near future:

Source: Uploaded by user via Amy on Pinterest

Source: missmustardseed.blogspot.com via Daisy on Pinterest

Source: witandwhistle.com via Daisy on Pinterest

Wish me luck is all I can say. Wish me luck. (My headboard will be on a smaller scale with more neutral fabric, but that was the best image I could find.) (The tree skirt is no-sew.)

I grew up all over the world – Washington, Idaho, Arizona, England, Virginia, Alabama, Arizona (again!), Germany, Utah, New Orleans, Dallas, Chicago. My husband grew up in Detroit. We often laugh at the odds of it all, and yet, we love Chicago. Together. Our little 1200 square foot home, our one parking space, our lack of storage. We love walking everywhere and taking the dog for long walks through parks with Picasso’s and fountains and taxi’s roaring by. We are unabashedly city-folks. And we like it that way.

I’m one of those people that buys my gym shoes and only wears them for athletic endeavors- never to the store or on a Saturday afternoon.

Living in Chicago, I don’t think a girl can have enough winter coats. One is perpetually at the cleaner, having a button sewn back on or not warm enough for the day. These days I’m making moon-eyes at this coat. Of course it is sold out in purple in my size.

I’ve been learning more and more about my camera, but trying not to subject my blog readers to too many amateur shots. That said…I snapped this gem of Rhett Butler this weekend:

But in a biography I can’t really say that I’m a “photographer” becuase the accurate description is “enjoys fiddling with her camera and once in every 200 shots getting the settings right and being pleased with an image, but also only understands about 3 settings so far, so take of it what you will” and that does not fit in 160 Twitter-bio characters. At least not if you want to at least give a nod to your love of cheese. And lets face it, I always want to give a nod to my love of cheese.

I mean, who doesn’t love cheese?

On October 7th…..

October 7, 2011

By Daisy

I can’t even begin to pretend that I haven’t been looking at Christmas cards already. I know, I know, it is only the beginning of October but if you read my recent “90 Day Countdown to a Nervous Breakdown” you know that in the 90-day window before Christmas I cannot be held accountable for my ~~crazy, insane and Type A personality~~ actions. My friend Katie suggested instead of Christmas cards, I invest in a calendar, you know, TO REMIND ME THAT IT IS ONLY OCTOBER. (Granted this was a thought she shared in September, but I have a feeling her stance has not changed.) Whatever.

Christmas cards are something that I like to take care of earlier rather than later, for one we send over 100 cards every year so if I’m not careful they can get expensive quickly. This of course means that my most favorite card is not a contender, even though it is the most perfect card ever and made by the same paperie as our wedding invitations:

Sorry I’m not sorry, but I’m not spending over $200 on Christmas cards. That is too much for even a self-admitted holiday-lover like myself. (Shakes fist at sky. SCROOGE.)

Anyway. I like to order cards early, to get the expense out of the way and to give me plenty of time to address the cards. This year we just don’t have a great photo (at least not yet) and I was doing some serious thinking about the situation. My choices amounted to: (1) don’t use a photo which is apparently the same as telling a small child Santa isn’t real; (2) use a cute photo from our February ski trip that is a tiny bit out of focus; (3) use a photo of just our dog and be those people; or (4) use a sailing photo even though short-sleeve photos on holiday cards make me shiver. Something about the snowflake-y time of year juxtaposed with warm weather activities. It just doesn’t work for me. Then the skies parted and the angels sang and Minted came out with a stellar collection of photo-free holiday cards letting me order now and print an acceptable photo at a later date to put in the envelope with the card. (For the record: Minted does not know who I am, does not know about this post, and will probably never, ever see this post. This is not sponsored content.)

My top contenders, i.e., images I’ve been sending to various family and friends forcing them to think about Santa & snow when they are trying to plan the most perfect Halloween costume:

Which one will I choose? Only time will tell. But this year, I’m taking care of the cards before Halloween. One less thing to worry about in December*, you know what I mean?

*One less thing to worry about in December = more time for me to drink delicious spiced wine & watch Christmas movies and plan a cookie exchange party. Who am I fooling? No one.

Putting Myself Last

October 3, 2011

By Daisy

I’ve read before that it is the female figure in the household that gets the short end of the stick in an effort to give the nicer things to her significant other and children. She gives everyone else the nice pork chops, taking the slightly burnt one for herself. She wears swimsuit bottoms instead of undies because there was only time for one load of laundry and the kids soccer uniforms were more important. The female figure goes to bed last, gets up early and keeps everyone running. It isn’t a theory I’d thought about that much – my husband will testify that for as many times as I give him the nice piece of chicken, I’ll take it for myself- and I’d always considered myself equal opportunity. Sometimes I take the last new razor blade in the pack, sometimes I leave it for B. And while I certainly get up first (helllllo 5 am wake up) I also go to bed first because I’m tired from getting up so early.

Sometimes though…I buy myself a soft new throw blanket with the intent of using it watch football, to burrow under with a hot mug of tea and a new book….and this happens.

I can’t get him off of it or out from under it.