Casa Walsh

Here are the much awaited pictures from the second annual pre-Thanksgiving celebration at Kansas.

My favorite part of the evening? Realizing that I could go home anytime I wanted and not be responsible for cleaning up in the morning.

Unfortunately that elation was tempered by the vision of my own kitchen turned upside down from the preparation of the  pomegranate guacamole, maple glazed carrots, and jello mold.

After everyone stuffed themselves, the boys and girls reacted to the to the combination of the tryptophan and homemade absinthe differently. Let’s take a look.

Boys:

Girls:

Yeah, that’s right. Dominoes and lapdancing.

Here are the much awaited pictures from the second annual pre-Thanksgiving celebration at Kansas.

My favorite part of the evening? Realizing that I could go home anytime I wanted and not be responsible for cleaning up in the morning.

Unfortunately that elation was tempered by the vision of my own kitchen turned upside down from the preparation of the  pomegranate guacamole, maple glazed carrots, and jello mold.

After everyone stuffed themselves, the boys and girls reacted to the to the combination of the tryptophan and homemade absinthe differently. Let’s take a look.

Boys:

Girls:

Yeah, that’s right. Dominoes and lapdancing.

To commemorate my final days living the bachelorette life, I had a very girly Saturday. Fran and I went shopping at Russo’s, the best market in the whole world. We bought a ton of beautiful produce for a fraction of the Bread and Circus price. Russo’s has every available type of fruit and vegetable available – take eggplants for example: Asian eggplant, Italian baby eggplant, white eggplant, conventional eggplant. We chose pomegranates, pomellos, Serrano chilies, three types of potatoes, apples, pears, oranges, lettuces, heirloom tomatoes, shallots, and the prettiest leeks I have ever seen.

I bought a microwave, which I don’t think qualifies as a girly activity – although Fran and I did spend several minutes debating the aesthetics of each microwave in the Target kitchen appliance isle. We were no more annoying than the many women on cell phones – their conversations reduced to a shrill “Ohmigod! I’m at Target.”

We made a tasty potato-leek gratin, and orange marmalade cake. Please admire the presentation a la Fran:

Jes came over and we ate food, and read passages from the Harlequin romance “novels” Fran and I picked up at Target. Who knew Target dealt in smut?

I spent Sunday cleaning up the kitchen and then messing it up all over again as I put some more fabric on the walls:

To commemorate my final days living the bachelorette life, I had a very girly Saturday. Fran and I went shopping at Russo’s, the best market in the whole world. We bought a ton of beautiful produce for a fraction of the Bread and Circus price. Russo’s has every available type of fruit and vegetable available – take eggplants for example: Asian eggplant, Italian baby eggplant, white eggplant, conventional eggplant. We chose pomegranates, pomellos, Serrano chilies, three types of potatoes, apples, pears, oranges, lettuces, heirloom tomatoes, shallots, and the prettiest leeks I have ever seen.

I bought a microwave, which I don’t think qualifies as a girly activity – although Fran and I did spend several minutes debating the aesthetics of each microwave in the Target kitchen appliance isle. We were no more annoying than the many women on cell phones – their conversations reduced to a shrill “Ohmigod! I’m at Target.”

We made a tasty potato-leek gratin, and orange marmalade cake. Please admire the presentation a la Fran:

Jes came over and we ate food, and read passages from the Harlequin romance “novels” Fran and I picked up at Target. Who knew Target dealt in smut?

I spent Sunday cleaning up the kitchen and then messing it up all over again as I put some more fabric on the walls:

My patriotic bandaid

Is there anything better than a day off in the middle of the week? How about a day off the day before a paper’s due?

I planned to wake up early and get some real work done on my essay. I did wake up at 8 o’clock, but I made the misake of turning off the alarm clock. Four hours later I finally got out of bed. I felt groggy so I made some coffee. After three cups of coffee I got the caffeine shakes and couldn’t sit still to do my research. I made a huge dish of stuffed pasta, put some more fabric on the walls and cleaned up the crafting/cooking disaster in the kitchen.

Damn you Tuesday with your Gilmore Girls and 24. Oh good, Queer Eye is a rerun. I might get a couple hours of work done after all. Hey, what’s this “Rich Girls” show on Mtv…

My patriotic bandaid

Is there anything better than a day off in the middle of the week? How about a day off the day before a paper’s due?

I planned to wake up early and get some real work done on my essay. I did wake up at 8 o’clock, but I made the misake of turning off the alarm clock. Four hours later I finally got out of bed. I felt groggy so I made some coffee. After three cups of coffee I got the caffeine shakes and couldn’t sit still to do my research. I made a huge dish of stuffed pasta, put some more fabric on the walls and cleaned up the crafting/cooking disaster in the kitchen.

Damn you Tuesday with your Gilmore Girls and 24. Oh good, Queer Eye is a rerun. I might get a couple hours of work done after all. Hey, what’s this “Rich Girls” show on Mtv…

Started: I’ve been working on ways to use all the fabric I’ve collected lately. I bought a bunch of vintage Marimekko fabric on eBay – repeating circle patterns in bright colors. I wanted to use the fabric in the kitchen, but the peices aren’t large enough for curtains. On the HGTV site, I read about a process using liquid laundry starch to adhere fabric to walls that won’t damage the paint or plaster. Since we’re not supposed to paint the walls in our apartment, this seems like a great way to brighten the kitchen. When I move, I can just peel the fabric off the walls.

Liquid starch is not the prefered laundry starch in Cambridge – every place I checked only had the aresol spray starch. I finally found some at the “secret” Star Market. The process is messy – ok, I’m messy. Luckily, starch cleans up with water. I slapped up a piece above the pantry door, to get an idea of what it’ll look like:

After putting up this section, I realized that the kichen has a lot of wall. I’m looking at a big project.

Finished: There’s a small alcove in the bedroom, between our closets. Not only did Peeler’s dresser fit perfectly in the space, but this panel of silk fabric I picked up at a yard sale last year is the perfect size for a wall hanging. There’s some light fading and some faint waterstains, but I think it looks good. And hey, what do you want for $2?

Taking too long: The pattern seemed straight-forward, but I’ve been tweaking it after every row of blocks. I ripped back several times because I didn’t write down my pattern amendments. Now it looks more like basketweave than diagonal checkerboard.

Started: I’ve been working on ways to use all the fabric I’ve collected lately. I bought a bunch of vintage Marimekko fabric on eBay – repeating circle patterns in bright colors. I wanted to use the fabric in the kitchen, but the peices aren’t large enough for curtains. On the HGTV site, I read about a process using liquid laundry starch to adhere fabric to walls that won’t damage the paint or plaster. Since we’re not supposed to paint the walls in our apartment, this seems like a great way to brighten the kitchen. When I move, I can just peel the fabric off the walls.

Liquid starch is not the prefered laundry starch in Cambridge – every place I checked only had the aresol spray starch. I finally found some at the “secret” Star Market. The process is messy – ok, I’m messy. Luckily, starch cleans up with water. I slapped up a piece above the pantry door, to get an idea of what it’ll look like:

After putting up this section, I realized that the kichen has a lot of wall. I’m looking at a big project.

Finished: There’s a small alcove in the bedroom, between our closets. Not only did Peeler’s dresser fit perfectly in the space, but this panel of silk fabric I picked up at a yard sale last year is the perfect size for a wall hanging. There’s some light fading and some faint waterstains, but I think it looks good. And hey, what do you want for $2?

Taking too long: The pattern seemed straight-forward, but I’ve been tweaking it after every row of blocks. I ripped back several times because I didn’t write down my pattern amendments. Now it looks more like basketweave than diagonal checkerboard.

I look like a lady with my grownup purse. It took me a long time to pick out a style, brand and color. I went with a brown slim mini-briefcase with tote-length handles. I can sling it over my shoulder or carry it like a briefcase. I bought it used, from eBay, the only way I could afford a leather Coach bag. It’s in good condition – I like that it looks worn and weathered, like I’ve been traveling with it for a long time. It’s a great shape and holds my little apple laptop perfectly, with room for my power cord, a small notebook, wallet, phone and assorted lip balms and gum. When I’m not toting my computer, the bag can hold some files and books.

The justification for this purchase: I’m hoping a touch of sophistication will inspire me to move ahead in my work life. Now that I carry a Coach bag, I should have a job that makes this bag a necessity instead of a splurge.

Most of my google/yahoo search referers are people looking for arm warmers; how to make them and where to buy them. I declare Swans’ style page a success!

I look like a lady with my grownup purse. It took me a long time to pick out a style, brand and color. I went with a brown slim mini-briefcase with tote-length handles. I can sling it over my shoulder or carry it like a briefcase. I bought it used, from eBay, the only way I could afford a leather Coach bag. It’s in good condition – I like that it looks worn and weathered, like I’ve been traveling with it for a long time. It’s a great shape and holds my little apple laptop perfectly, with room for my power cord, a small notebook, wallet, phone and assorted lip balms and gum. When I’m not toting my computer, the bag can hold some files and books.

The justification for this purchase: I’m hoping a touch of sophistication will inspire me to move ahead in my work life. Now that I carry a Coach bag, I should have a job that makes this bag a necessity instead of a splurge.

Most of my google/yahoo search referers are people looking for arm warmers; how to make them and where to buy them. I declare Swans’ style page a success!