My New Favorite Website

If you browse through the list of blogs that I follow, it should come as no surprise that I love interior design.  Up until this point in my life, I've either lived with my parents (until the day I was married, actually) or in an apartment.  Neither of which allows for much permanence/personality when it comes to decorating.  But alas, we purchased our first home earlier this year and I'm DETERMINED to make it as beautiful as I possibly can.  So far, I'm still dealing with a fairly blank canvas.  We haven't even put any artwork up on the walls.  For a while I was considering working with a professional designer, but then I decided I should give it a go on my own first.  I figure I have a ton of resources available to me as far as inspiration goes.  Plus, I definitely know what I like.  My husband and I aren't 100% on the same page in terms of style, but that's OK.  People always say to pick your battles...well, this is a battle I'm going to WIN!  Sorry dear husband, but I'm afraid I'm not backing down on this one.  I'm sure he'll understand.

Anyway, I came across this very helpful website, Olioboard, to help plan out my projects.  It's very easy to use and is great for compiling all the elements of a room into one place.  My first room to tackle is the 'formal living room', right off the front door.  It's nice and bright, but certainly not my "vision".  It's sort of a mish mash of hand me downs, leftovers from our apartment days, and bare walls.  Blah.  As soon as I get the Olioboard together for this room, I'll post it.  I can't wait to get started!

***Update!  I couldn't wait.  Here's the first pass at the living room.  I'm still missing things like curtains, artwork, and a coffee table, but this should give you a pretty good idea of my style.  It's sure to change as I work on it some more, but I thought I'd share the starting point:

Fatoush Salad

Tonight I made fatoush salad for dinner and it was delicious! It's a Middle Eastern salad made with tomatoes, cucumbers, and pieces of Arabic (pita) bread tossed in a lemony dressing. Perfect for the summer. Here's how I make it:

Approximately 1.5 cups of tomatoes, cubed. Today I used baby heirloom tomatoes sliced in half, because it's all I had.

Approximately 4 Persian cucumbers chopped into bite sized pieces.

Approximately (are you sensing a theme here?)two green onions, chopped.

A couple tablespoons of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped.

A couple handfuls of pita bread pieces, although I prefer using store bought pita chips. Since they're crunchy, they hold up a little better in the dressing.

Equal parts olive oil and lemon juice. I used the juice of 1 1/2 lemons, but you can adjust depending on how citrusy you like your dressing.

Salt and pepper, to taste.

So here's the tough part, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, toss with lemon juice/olive oil, season with salt and pepper...and enjoy! Here's what mine looked like tonight:

To Make a Long Story Short

So, a while back, I blogged about reading The Last Child in the Woods.  At the time, I was really optimistic about it.  I was a new mother (I guess I still am, so we'll say I was a "brand new" mother) and pretty much ate up any and all parenting books/blogs/TV shows that spoke to my inner mama sensibilities.  Well, it's been a few months since then and I figured it's time for an update/review of the book.  So here goes.  I hated it.  I didn't hate what it was about.  I think the idea of the book was great...kids need nature in their lives.  They shouldn't be holed up indoors playing video games all day long.  When they spend time outdoors, interacting with nature, they grow up more patient, grounded, caring, yadda, yadda, yadda.  So if I agree with the main argument of the book, why did I hate it so much?  I'm glad you asked.  Did you notice how quickly I was able to sum up the book?  Two and a half sentences was all it took.  Granted, I left out any mention of scientific studies used to prove the point, but how many extra pages could that add?  10?  15 tops? 

Which leads me to the main reason I didn't like the book.  And to be fair, it's a problem I have with a lot of non-fiction/non-biography reading.  Sometimes, I think certain books would be better served as a magazine article.  Or a short story.  Or a well crafted essay.  Pretty much anything that's less than 200 pages.  The Last Child in the Woods falls into this category.  After about 100 pages, I started getting tired of reading the same exact point over and over and over.  It really became a chore.  Even the studies he used to make his point were eerily similar to one another.  I actually blurted out at one point, "OK!  I get it!  Enough already!"  Not a good reaction. Sorry Mr. Louv, I am just not a fan of your writing.  It's nothing personal. 

Needless to say, I'm a little cautious when it comes to non-fiction reading after being burned so many times.  I really hate wasting my time, and I kind of feel that reading the same thing over and over qualifies as such.  So, I was a little hesitant when my good friend recommended Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell.  I've heard so many good things about Malcolm Gladwell, and have even read a few of his articles in the past.  But a whole book?  Was this going to be another exercise in beating a point over the head until it dies a slow and painful death?  Uggh, I hope not.

Well I started reading it about a week ago and am about 100 pages in.  Without being too optimistic, I have to say that this book kicks ass...so far.  But two friends, who I consider extremely intelligent and well-read, have assured me that it's as good as I think it is.  So, I read on.  Waiting for it to fall apart on me...

...but I'm hopeful that the curse has been broken.  Things are looking up.  Please Mr. Gladwell, don't fail me now. 

*I'll post a full review once I'm done.  I'll also tell you my thoughts on One Day by David Nicholls.