Monday, October 31, 2011

Friday, October 28, 2011

Not enough space.

Twice a year I am faced with this ginormous task of switching out my clothes from one season to the next.  I kind of hate this task and I wait until the last possible moment to do it.  As the weather gets cool, I try to wear cute jackets over any 3/4 sleeve shirts I can come across, with the pants that stay out year round.  Usually there is a light scarf that will help me last another week into the fall.  But eventually that just doesn't cut it anymore and I need a sweater and am forced to do the big switch.  This entails standing atop a wobbly stool and pulling a ridiculously overstuffed army sized bag from the top of my small closet. Usually either the pulling out, or the pushing back up almost knocks me off the stool to a near death.  I always try to get rid of a few things to lighten the load, but I don't really have much excess.  My clothing purchases have dwindled greatly over the past few years, possibly inspired by the pains of moving stuff around?  Why is the only storage in my apartment up high?  I guess it represents New York.  No room to expand outwards...build up!

Anyway - I came across a few interesting ideas during my switcharoo this season.  First of all, somehow without busting down a wall and expanding my closet, I was able to install a hanging shelf organizer to hold my sweaters.  I'm not sure how it actually fit, and things are pretty tight, but I'll take it!  Having the sweaters in there opened up a shelf where I can now store all my music books for school, which were taking up a nice space on the floor.  And somehow by rearranging the stuff on top of the bookshelf I was able to store my big ol' bag o' summer clothes up there, which opened up a little square of space on the top shelf in my closet!  Wow.  I don't even know what to do with that space yet!  It's amazing.  I wonder if that's a sign of living in a New York apartment for a while.  If you sit and stare long enough, you will figure out a way to come up with just a little bit more space.  And that space will make an unbelievable difference.

The other idea, which is actually a question is: why do I have 3 billion hangers when only about 50 will fit in my closet?  Where did they all come from?  And shoes...there is just no good way to store all of my shoes.  Oh well.  I'm doing all right, I guess.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Perfectly Pumpkin

It is the time of the year to O.D. on pumpkin.  I love it!  I've been eating pumpkin flavored everything since it came on the scene a few weeks back.  I made pumpkin bread, had pumpkin donuts, pumpkin coffee, and pumpkin delights (thanks to Mom!).  I bought pumpkin spiced granola at Trader Joe's, but I haven't tried it yet.  Maybe tomorrow...or maybe I'll try it tonight! There is a pumpkin candle burning in the kitchen.
It may seem a little crazy, but pumpkin stuff is only here for a few months, so it's best to overdo it while you can.  I would like to have pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin soup.
And, of course... pumpkin pie!

Mini Pumpkins!

After writing and rereading this, I feel like "pumpkin" is kind of a funny word...

Friday, October 7, 2011

cooler outside = soup inside

Fall must officially be here, because I just made SOUP!!!  First thing this morning I ran out to the grocery store to purchase my goodies and came back to chop chop chop those veggies.  An hour or so later the apartment smells delicious and I have a big pot of my favorite lentil soup to get me through the weekend. All right!!!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

From the Met to the Mets

This summer we tried to take advantage of the summer and the city and get out and do some different things.  Like going to the zoo, botanic gardens, beach, and white water rafting.  It was a lot of fun and a way to take little "staycations".  Most of our adventures were actually inspired by those coupon websites: Groupon and LivingSocial.  Those sites clutter my inbox with a lot of junk, but occasionally something good comes along.  Not only are the offers good because they give you a discount, but also because they make you think of things that you might not normally think of.  Also good for people like me, there is a time limit to purchase and use the coupon, so I can't put it off for long.


On a recent weekend I grabbed myself a Groupon to go to a Met's game!  The weather has been on the edge for a couple of weeks now, but that Saturday turned out to be a perfect day to take the train out to the stadium and watch a game from the nosebleed.  And for once, I went to a game where the team I was cheering for actually won!  I was nervous when half way through the game the score was still tied 0-0, but eventually it picked up, got a little exciting and then the Mets sent those Phillies packing!  It was a lot of fun!


Go team!!!