Little Leroy

 

Project: IKEA cabinet to breakfast nook

When my sister and her family moved, she gave us a couple of cabinets she'd bought from IKEA (many years ago) and had used in her kitchen for extra storage. They were plain wooden cabinets, one deeper than the other, and she had often stacked them like a hutch and used them for food storage, etc.

We had just moved in together, and were still trying to figure out how we were going to set up the apartment, what furniture we needed, etc. There's not a lot of cabinet space in our very tiny kitchen, so were thrilled when she offered them to us. However, our kitchen and dining room are connected, and the way it's configured, we couldn't stack them as she had done. Plus, we really wanted a free-standing island/breakfast nook.

So we got creative.

After a good deal of talking and planning, we took a trip to HomeDepot and picked up a piece of plywood, ceramic tiles (and grout, etc), paint and door handles. Then we swung over to IKEA and picked up some more legs to match those that were already on the piece my sister had used for the base cabinet. Then we got to work. We cleared out the dining room, laid down a drop cloth, broke out the sandpaper, power drill, paintbrushes and got to work. We then made another trip to HomeDepot to get the rest of the supplies we'd forgotten.

I think it was about half-way through the project that we looked at each other and thought "oh crap, what did we get ourselves into with this project?" Did I mention that we had just moved in together!?!?

 

After a weekend of hard work and frustration on both our parts (and me being dubbed "project take-over queen") we finally finished our kitchen island/breakfast nook. And despite our struggles, or perhaps because of them, we finished our project feeling closer than ever, with a shared sense of accomplishment.

We now have two functional storage units, a breakfast nook and a sidebar!

At-Home Salad Bar Solution

In an attempt to be a little healthier and eat more balanced dinners, B and I started making a point to have salads with our dinners each night. However, washing the lettuce or spinach, peeling and chopping carrots and cucumbers and all of the other salad fixings can be tedious and time consuming, especially when preparing a main dish as well.

We were talking one night about how convenient cafeteria and grocery store salad bars are, so we brainstormed ways to bring the convenience of a salad bar into our own kitchen. The solution we came up with is very simple and has been working extremely well, and cuts down on dinner prep time and dishes significantly - and has made packing lunches a cinch!

We found everything we needed at Target, and spent less than $20 on the whole set up! Unfortunately, I couldn't find the items on the Target website to link to.

Here's what we used to create our own at-home salad bar:

Two small plastic containers with locking lids

Plastic interlocking drawer organizers - these were helpful so that we could customize the layout of each container.

 

Spring has arrived in The Fenway!

Scenes of spring are in full bloom at and around work. Although the trees and flowers have been wreaking havoc with my allergies, they are so beautiful I can't help but to admire and photograph them.

Introducing VMarien Designs

I've recently opened up shop on Etsy, where I am selling necklaces and earrings. I am really enjoying it so far. Check it out at vmarien.etsy.com

Here are some examples of my work:

these are awesome!

I came across this site: http://www.contexture.ca/ and it has a couple of products that I think are totally amazing, namely:

Coffee Cuff

One of the reasons that I don't use a reusable coffee cup and/or clutch is that I always forget them or they end up being cumbersome. However, soemthing that I could just slip on my wrist when I'm done with it? Now that's something I could go for!

45 Nano Cases

I'd never give up my iPod to go back to using tapes, but there is soemthing that's just so great and nostalgic about a cassette tape!

I also really love when old items are reused and/or repurposed to make something new and fantastic!

 

Satire article not funny

So, yesterday a "news story" broke (Jenny Sanford: “Gay marriage wrecked my family”) on a little-known "news site" (The DiSCust) and quickly spread, without people realizing it was a satire piece (I must admit, myself included). It "quoted" Jenny Sanford and Rush Limbaugh in regards to gay marriage, and made claims that gay marriage was to blame for the "moral decay" of America.

The thing about the article that bothered me the most was that it was supposed to be a satire, but sadly, this is how some people in this country actually feel, and would be inclined to agree with the statements attributed to Ms. Sanford. There are people who really do believe that "the gays" are to blame for myriad problems.

My initial reaction to this piece, before discovering that it was supposed to be a parody, was to be furious. The fight for marriage equality is not the reason that spouses have affairs. Gays and lesbians who share their lives with each other and want it to be federally recognized have nothing to do with people's inability to keep in their pants, so to speak. If "the sanctity of marriage" has been destroyed, it is not because of us. It is thanks to people like Governor Sanford, who think that cheating is okay. It's not.

If moral values are declining in America, it's not "the gays" who are to blame. It's people who make excuses for bad behavior and find someone else to blame. Where has the accountability for one's actions gone? You can just buy your way out if you have enough money or power, or go to church on Sunday and be absolved of your sins, you can just get a divorce if your marriage isn't working. Marriage is not supposed to be a temporary arrangement that can be entered in to and out of at will; it is a commitment to spend your life with, care for, be faithful to and love one another for the rest of your life. Why is it that someone who is denied the right to marry more able to see that than some people who are able to do so whenever they choose? Is it that they take marriage for granted? Is it because it is so easy to get married, divorced and then remarried? Why aren't philanderers and abusive spouses being blamed for destroying the sanctity of marriage and the decay of moral values? Why are loving, committed gay and lesbian couples blamed for the decay of an institution that we are not even permitted to be a part of? I think that it's too hard for people to look in the mirror and see what they themselves might be doing wrong; it's easier to find a scapegoat to pin all the problems on.