New beginnings

I don't write a lot and I have decided not to stress about that. The only people that read this blog are friends anyway and it's my blog. Plus, I don't need the extra stress.

So let's start fresh. It's a new year, a new decade. Good things are bound to happen.

In the most exciting news, from my perspective, I finally found a legal position. And that will be all the job talk you'll see.

I will be moving, hopefully, by the end of the week. I say hopefully because M and I went to look at apartments over the weekend and I found the perfect one. I asked a lot of questions, because that's what I do, and M poked around and asked some questions as well. I didn't think it was anything special: "the bath doesn't have any caulk, is that going to get fixed?" "Are you re-caulking around the kitchen counter?" "Does the A/C unit need to be weatherized?" Called the building manager back later that day to say I would like the apartment, she sounded enthusiastic and told me she was dropping information into the mail for me that afternoon. I mailed in my application and hold fee today. This afternoon she called to say that she wants me to come look at the place again because she's not sure it can live up to my expectations. She's never had anyone have so many complaints. Um...she was already fixing all the issues I asked about. Grrr. It's a two hour drive and I was coming down on Friday to sign and pay for everything. I had canceled my viewing at another apartment later this week because it she told me yesterday that I just needed to get my application in and all would be well.

Can you tell I'm a bit annoyed?

Moving right along. I've decided to try an experiment. I'm going to wait until March for this particular experiment because the move is guaranteed to cause issues with it. I'm going on a spending moratorium. I know that thousands of others have done this before but I'm curious how I'll do - plus it can't hurt the budget.

So here's what I'm allowed to spend money on:

• Rent
• Groceries
• Gas
• Insurance
• Utilities
  
• Internet/phone/cable (not sure if I'll have cable when I move or not)
• Personal care basics (shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toilet paper etc)
• Birthday gifts

That's it.

I wonder how many of my friends have tried this sort of thing and with what results...

Sweet 16...

Dear 16-year-old Alicia,

Lets get this out of the way early. Give BM more of a chance. He really is a nice guy and will learn to kiss with a bit of time. Do not date MW, he'll continue to get more into drugs and cheat on you in the end. Don't worry about the popular kids at school, in 2 years you'll have forgotten them entirely. Call your grandparents more often and don't grumble about going to Southern California to visit. You'll feel bad about it later. Also, make sure someone takes your picture in your cap and gown at graduation. Years later this will seem important.

As for College: go out more and explore your new home. You'll be in an awesome city, take better advantage of it. Do the touristy stuff then because you won't go back for a very long time. Don't RA your Senior, you'll resent not enjoying your last year in the city. The cell phone will be more trouble than it's worth. Wait a few years and it'll work out a lot better. Study abroad. Don't worry so much about meeting someone, he'll come along eventually and be completely worth the wait.

Life after college: You're living with your parents for a reason, don't spend so much damn money. Make exercise a routine, you'll never have more time than you do right now. Start looking for your own apartment as soon as you get to Milwaukee. You will enjoy law school more without the drama. Take ethics during your 2L year and take the MPRE in the fall of 3L. This will all make sense in 2006 so try and remember it. The Midwest is not at all what you think, but you'll love it anyway.

Things won't be anything like what you expect, but it'll be great anyway. Don't take yourself so seriously and remember to enjoy things as they happen.

Love,
26-year-old Alicia

What's for dinner?

Okay, this will be a quick post but I have to share my love affair with my Crock Pot. I don't usually get home until 6pm or later, usually closer to 7pm. So I try to use the crock as often as possible.

Chicken and Dumplings is one of my favorite recipes. It's mostly a dump it all in the pot, set on low, and enjoy the wondrous smell when you come home. Plus, this is surprisingly healthy, so try to ignore the somewhat unappetizing look. Here's all you'll need (for a meal for 2 or 3 people)

1 can - cream of chicken soup (I go for the "healthy" option)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups chicken broth (I go organic for less sodium)
1 onion - minced
2 cloves garlic - minced
bunch of veggies of your choice. (I used frozen beans here, but I'll go carrots, green beans, or anything else I have in the fridge or freezer)
1 tube biscuit dough.

Basically you throw everything except the biscuits into the crock pot on low and leave cooking along for the day. Then about 30 minutes before you actually eat, tear up the biscuits and mix into the pot. The biscuits will help thicken up the sauce. It's hearty and easy and just plain yummy.

Please excuse the messy counter - my camera has less than 30 seconds of battery, straight off the charger, so I was trying to be quick.

I'm currently shopping for a new camera - my budget will have a lot to do with when this is picked up.

Ah Fall

I love fall, so I'm greatly enjoying my calendar stating that it's currently November first. Fall is the perfect season - it's not hot and humid, making me feel sticky and like a part of the unwashed masses, like in summer. Winter is blindingly cold, I have a perpetual runny nose thanks to my reaction to being cold (doctor told me that was the cause, I'm still doubtful).

The most glorious part of fall though is Halloween and all the joy that comes leading up to it. Lucky for me M enjoys this particular holiday as much as I do. We were going to try out a haunted forest but pumpkin carving took us longer than M expected. Instead we went for the corn maze at night. We managed to navigate both sections of the maze in just over an hours (1 hour 12 minutes to be exact). It was a blast, except for those young whipper snappers who couldn't seem to understand that if you go through the corn it ruins the maze. Bah, kids these days.

Anyway, one of M's favorite fall activities is pumpkin carving. It's a big deal in his book and is planned months in advance. Really, he talks about it all summer as the pumpkins grown, worrying and fretting that there won't be enough pumpkins for everyone that comes to the pumpkin carving party. There were plenty, but he lamented that the pumpkins weren't larger.

Between the worrying though he took the time to teach me the fine art of pumpkin carving, the proper way (according to M). Carving what I always thought of as elaborate is not actually as difficult are I originally thought. There are so many stencils and directions on the web that will be much more clear than me, as a mere novice, can provide.

I attempted to use a stencil, but I neglected to consider that my pumpkin was still a bit damp from wiping off the stray pumpkin innards. About a quarter of the way through outlining my stencil started to disintegrate. This was not a complete disaster, but did require me to free hand the outline of the design onto the pumpkin. It didn't turn out perfectly but I was impressed with the final product.

On a side note, I decided to treat myself this halloween weekend. No homework was done all night. Instead I knit and watched appropriate documentaries about haunted houses.


*DISCLAIMER: My camera is malfunctioning so any pictures are actually from M's friend or his sister.*

Sudsy

As a girlfriend, I'm never entirely sure what is appropriate to give M's parents as gifts. I wonder if this is common sense to most people? Hm, well let me make a few excuses. I'm from the West coast, but am dating a life-long Midwestern. His mother finds many things I do quite strange. I eat funny foods (Caprese salad, Yum!) Also, my family doesn't really do gifts except for holidays, and birthdays if we actually remember. Gifts just aren't our thing. So imagine my surprise when M's mom gave me a Christmas present - follow that with my embarrassment that I hadn't brought a gift for her. Now that we're all up to speed, our craft will begin.

M's mom has a hard time with perfumes, smelly lotions, and most feminine bath products. So while wandering the aisle of the local Micheal's I saw a kit for making soap. I took that as my inspiration.

I opted not to make lye soap, as the process is more than I have time for at the moment. That leaves the melt and pour variety. It's a pretty basic process.

What you'll need:
Soap Base - I used glycerin this time
A spouted/pourable container - medium measuring cups work well
Soap Mold
(optional)
Essential Oil in desired scent
Coloring agent (food coloring works just fine, in small amounts)

Step 1 - cut up your soap base. (I used glycerin)
Step 2 - melt the soap base.
Step 3 - mix in scent and color
Step 4 - pour in mold
Step 5 - let cool

For the soap molds, you can use just about anything that is leak proof and won't be damaged from holding a very warm liquid. I've found a bunch of fun ice cube trays that would work. But you can also find molds designed specifically for soap. I found some in celtic knot patter that I think M's Irish-and-proud mother would like.

There are a couple of handy tricks I wish someone had told me before I made my first patch of soap a few years ago. The soap will occasionally be hard to remove from the mold. This is not an issue with a silicon or other "soft" mold, but the standard plastic ones have problems. One solution is to spray the mold with cooking oil. I am not a fan of this solution because it leaves an oily film on the soap, and if it's a gift you can't exactly wash the soap. Also, the oil will usually bead up on the plastic and look like bubbles on the pattern side of the soap. Instead I put my soap in the fridge. This not only helps it come out of the mold, but also cools it faster so I can do layers or other fun designs. The being cold makes the soap contract slightly, and harden, so it's easier to pop it out of the mold.

The other piece of advice would be to tap the molds just after pouring the melted soap. This will help to get the bubbles out and make for a cleaner mold.

I used some red dye, to make a pink layer. M's mom is into red, but I was worried that the amount of dye I would need to use to make the soap a real red would also dye M's mom pink, and possibly irritate her sensitive skin. However, to make it a bit more interesting I decided to put in layers. This is simple, and pretty intuitive. Just fill the mold part way, then allow to cool. Melt more soap but dye a contrasting color, or don't dye it at all. Viola, you have layers. My only caution here is to not make the second layer soap too hot as it will melt the initial layer as you pour.

It was a nice break from studying, which has taken over my life as usual. Okay, now I'm off to edit articles....and hopefully sleep.

evolution

so this blog is evolving from a knitting blog into a - craft/shopping blog. And even there I'm failing to up-date as often as I'd like. But heck, I don't think I'm disappointing my vast readership, so all must be well. After all, you can't lose reader you don't actually have....Anyway, today I got the idea in my head that I need to purchase a pearl necklace. The only problem is that I don't know anything about pearls other than the cultured black pearls are way more expensive, and way out of my price range.

This may sound strange, and don't take it as anything more than the tired ramblings of a law student who works too many hours, but my first thought was pearls would be a great gift to a bridesmaid. No, I'm not getting married (at least that I know of) but I just love the idea of pearls as a gift. They are jewelry that last so long, and can be passed down to your children. In fact, I think they are almost the ideal thing to pass onto a daughter. According to a friend of mine, pearls retain the scent of a person who wears them regularly. I'm not sure if I believe that, but it just sounds so sweet.

Do people our age still wear pearls? If you were to receive them as a gift would you wear them?

Let's Get Crafty

School started last week, I moved the week before, and this week I start a new job. It's a busy month. I've only knit a few inches on my Something Red cardigan. I whipped up a couple of dish cloths, because apparently mine have decided to hide during the great migration(s) of 2008. This is my second move in 6 months so many things have wandered to places unknown. The iron, can opener, and the cord to my Mp3 player are all on the MIA list. Heck, I may have "downsized" them when I left my last place. Ah well, things only take up space in my new studio apartment.

While I haven't been knitting I was rather crafty. One of the items that was downsized was my dresser. Actually, due to a broken drawer and weight it was deemed unworthy, not big enough, and just plain ugly. Really, what do you expect for $13 from Goodwill, and hey 2 years of use for $13 isn't too bad. Anyway, a new dresser was purchased, this time from St. Vincent de Paul and since M has a vehicle that will hold more than my lil car, I was able to upgrade to a tall dresser.

Of course the plain wood stain, along with scratches, water stains etc, were not for me. I spent my Labor Day weekend sanding and painting to my heart's content. It is now a fun shade of dark blue (trim) with white panels and drawers.

Pictures to come when M arrives with said dressser. I'm stoked to finally have my clothing not in complete disarray. it makes keeping the place clean much harder.