Where the hell did it go?

February. It's over already?

February is usually a tough month for me. Winter looses its charm and I grow antsy for the appearance of robins, fat little buds on trees and early sunrises. Usually I feel simultaneously agitated and drained as the bitter cold of February drags on.

I guess my "cure" for the winter blues was to overfill my calendar, shovel endless amounts of snow, get creative in the kitchen, indulge in cupcakes, and contemplate running away with the circus.
And drink coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

 1. Heart shaped almond scones. Almost too cute to eat. Almost.

2. Snow. 

3.  Coffee and reading materials.
4. More coffee.
5. My view in the symphony. Snapped during dress rehearsal while tacet- not the performance. I do have some etiquette.

6. Symphony Gala

7. Brunch at Cafe Hollander. Bloody Mary with horseradish is possibly my new favorite. Complete with chorizo skillet and hefe weiss chaser.

8. Real live books in the real live neighborhood bookstore.

9 & 10. Kitty sitting Mr. Guy & the tailless wonder.

11. Splitting a chocolate raspberry cupcake with Mo.

12. Circus! 

13. Johnny turns 24.

14. The Mogget celebrates Johnny's birthday with pizazz. 

15. Oh yeah, more snow.

What did you indulge in this month?

Tea Talk: Universal Light

I will freely admit that I am a sucker for the following:

1. my furry little house mates
2. anything hedgehog related
3. most things sparkly, glittery or shiny
4. soft fabrics and textiles
5. quotes on tea tags

I'm currently smitten with a number of offerings by Yogi Organic Teas. An added bonus are the little nuggets of inspiration on each tag. I'm not alone in my enjoyment. Take a moment to Google Yogi Tea quotes. Entire blogs and websites devoted to tag wisdom!

Every now and then a quote will tumble around in my head for days. This one came with a cup of Egyptian Licorice:

From my light to yours.
Feel free to click on the image and make it yours. It is wallpaper sized. 

Where do you find little doses of inspiration?

My Nest: Small Changes in the Kitchen

When Ler & I moved into our apartment in mid August we so excited to be back in Milwaukee (actually, we still are!). We enjoy city life, being near the lake, and having sidewalks and bike lanes*. Our apartment is in a fabulous 4-story brick and stone building that includes a view of a park and a sliver of Lake Michigan. Our neighbors are friendly and the property manager is probably the cutest mother-hen I have ever met. What's not to love? How about our awkward kitchen...

*Side note/complete tangent: Sidewalks are now a requisite for anywhere we live. Our last abode was in an area with few pedestrian/bike paths, and many did not actually connect or go somewhere. Why would someone plan a town that way? Anyway, after numerous close calls of being run-off the road or nearly hit by inattentive drivers I practically kissed the sidewalk when I went for my first Milwaukee run. I didn't, but I thought about it. Okay- back to kitchen stuff.

Our apartment was built in 1925, so it is full of charm and quirks. The kitchen is pretty poorly laid out. The refrigerator is oversize, and is in the only spot in kitchen where the door will open. The sink is tucked into a corner away from, well, everything. The stove is tucked into the opposite corner. While I am not in want of storage (the pantry is huge!) it came with literally 1.5 square feet of counter space. See the little tiny slice by the sink where my dishes are drying? Yup. That is it.

Ler and I unpacked and set-up our kitchen with what we already had. Very college dorm chic. Neither of us liked it, but we wanted to live with it for a while before we started making changes. As renters we cannot do anything major and need to work with what is present. We actually lived with this layout for nearly 4 months. It gave us time to discuss priorities and set a budget. Guess what our topped our wish list?

1. Prep space. Ler has been teaching himself to make bread and pastries, so the lack of workspace was making it hard to roll out and shape dough.
2. Improve storage, flow, and accessibility. The oversize refrigerator and L-shape makes for interesting traffic patterns. We wanted to streamline our workspace as best we could.
3. Get rid of the tacky, torn-up, mismatched shelf paper in the pantry. I hated the whole sticky mess. Blech!

With the magic of Ikea and Target our kitchen is in progress. The Flytta stainless steel cart and Limhamn wall shelves work wonderfully. The extra storage below keeps mixing bowls, towels and kitty food close at hand. It is the perfect size for rolling dough, and is easy to take care of. The wall shelf is home to our coffee and tea fixin's.

The wire shelving moved to our storage locker. The green cart moved away from the stove and replaced the wire shelving. It is a great little span of prep space by the sink. Certainly improves the flow in the kitchen. Also, the garbage and recycling bins now reside under the sink. More needs to be done in that area, but it functions just fine as is.

We emptied out the pantry and gave it a good scrub. I put in black and white contact paper on all of the shelves. Yay coordination! Hurrah for non-sticky shelves! Items were put back into the pantry in a more organized fashion. All dishes hang out together, baking supplies have a self, pots and pans are in a central location. Huzzah for order! Even Ler's KitchenAid has its own little nook.

There are more tweaks I would like to make. The windowsill and radiator will have to wait until it's not so crazy cold and we can open the windows. Some paint touch-ups, pantry improvements, and under the sink storage are just a few of the items on my list. However, I am quite happy with the current results.  Small changes, big impact.

What small changes have rendered big results in your abode?

Scenes from my weekend

1. Unwilling to share the scratching chaise, Carmen sat on it until Simandl grew bored. Total brat.

2. Tried a twist on my Dad's classic chicken noodle soup- added lemon, fresh parsley and a few bulbs of fennel, traded barley for the noodles.

3-4. A fabulous night at the Milwaukee Symphony. Ler & I were treated to complimentary tickets for a performance of a Mozart piano concerto & Bruckner Symphony No. 4. In my opinion the horn section was the highlight of the evening, followed closely by the hefty trombones & tuba. I do love me some romantic era epic brass. An added bonus was getting to chat at intermission with my former bass teacher. 

5. Sunday lunch with my brother, sister & mum. Followed by a decadent dessert of coffee & homemade truffles. That is not a photo filter- the truffles are just naturally that magical.

6. A gorgeous Sunday afternoon snowfall dusted everything in a fresh coat of white.

Let's Do This: 2013 Goals & Getonits!

As January comes to a close (is it really February on Friday?!) it is a good time to check in on the progress of our New Years resolutions.

In the past I have completely avoided the practice of drafting resolutions, mostly for semantics. The term resolution feels so absolute and over arcing, like a thesis statement for an entire year.  Yes, by definition resolutions are acts of volition and free will, but I feel this is a word best tied to a UN treaty or a legislative document proposed by Congress. I much prefer looking at the year in terms of Goals & Getonits.

 

Goal & Getonits: [gohl & ghetawnits] noun

1. A statement of intention in which effort is directed. 

2. Setting an incremental course of action in order to realize ones intentions.

In my mind the term resolution is not only formal, but it is fragile. A resolution is easily broken and allows little room for negotiation or failure. Goals & getonits are terms to describe a process of growth and determination. They allow for incremental progress and set backs. As an educator I am always thinking in terms of curriculum goals and learning targets. Children do not learn and succeed in a straight trajectory, but instead take a curving path with troughs of failure and peaks of achievement. Why would we expect anything different from our adult selves?

This year I drafted my goals & getonits for 2013 in a web organizer doodle (how cross-curricular of me). I began with broad topics to focus my intentions. Where in my life should I concentrate my energy? What am I in control of (Myself- yes. Others- no.)? What changes can I make to refeather my life into a simpler one filled with intention and purpose?

The next phase was to generate bite-sized goals for each intention. I made sure the goals were realistic, honest and flexible. Some goals needed to be very specific, while others were best left as broad ideas with room for discovery and divergence.

I will devote some future posts to the specifics of some of my goals and getonits. 

How did you approach your 2013 goals and getonits?

Scenes from my weekend

 1. Enjoyed the unusually warm weather and went for a lakefront run. Too bad the 40 degree temps have been replaced by single digit highs. -4 Sunday night. Brrrrr & gross!

2. Coffee with a splash of heavy cream. It was that kind of afternoon.

3. Carmen joined me for a nap. Apparently my palm makes a good pillow.

4. No socks & chili fixin's!

5. Being spied upon.

6. Tuckered out by lesson planning and grading.

New Life

While I was putting away the holiday decorations and tending to my window sill garden I noticed this new little sprout. It made me smile. In the dead of winter this plant is growing, expanding, and creating. It got me thinking...

I already had drafted resolutions (more to come on that), but it's not too late to add a new one. I miss reflecting, writing, creating. I decided it was time to "re-sprout" my blog. 

In the past I tried to write refeathered with a specific focus. Version 1.0 launched in the summer of 2011 when my husband, Tyler, and our two kitties left our cozy city apartment and became caretakers for my grandparents suburban home. Refeathered was supposed to be about fixing my grandparent's house and getting it ready to sell. Less than 4 months and too few pictures later, the house was sold and we were preparing to move for the third time in one year. Version 2.0 launched in late winter 2012 focused on gratitude and intention, which lasted for a mere five posts. I think the snow stuck around longer than I did.

I am a musician, educator, runner, wannabe yogi, design junkie, lover of coffee and vegetables, and kitty mom. The current refeathered (version 3.0 for those of you counting) will be where I write about stuff I think is worth sharing. That simple. Look for posts on the small changes I make to my home, projects I'm working on, things I think are nifty, and simple pleasures. And most likely many, many kitty pictures.

Yup. Kitty pictures.