the girl with the pearl earring

With two exceptions, all of the jewelry I own is total junk. Like, bought it at Claire's for under $6 junk. One exception is the claddagh ring my mother brought back from Ireland for me. It's silver with an emerald stone and a few small diamonds framing the setting. I absolutely adore it. Probably moreso than anyone should ever love a bauble. But in addition to being the first truly nice piece of jewelry I owned in my adulthood, it's coincidentally also the same ring my best friend, Julie, also got in Ireland, which only makes me love it more. The other nice piece of jewelry I own is a string of pearls that my dear friend Bex far too generously brought back from China for me. They're stunning and absolutely my go-to accessory in the Publishing World.

But all of my other jewelry? Junk.

Because I am relentlessly classy, I often pair my breathtakingly gorgeous pearl necklace with a pair of totally-faux pearl earrings that I got in a set of three for under $6 from, yes, Claire's. I'm sorry, but it's true. This was the medium pair in the set, and my favorite. The others are both far too small and way too large for my liking.

I have a pouch on my dresser that is currently serving as a catchall for my junk jewelry (I do actually take care of my two nice pieces. Shocker!) but the other night after brushing my teeth and washing my face to get ready for bed, I took off my cheap, cheap, cheap plastic pearl earrings and set them on the side of the sink.

You already know where this is going, don't you?

I was exhausted, and so David had to sort of wake me up when he came to bed after brushing his teeth.

"S'matter?" I slurred.

"I am so sorry," he said.

"Mmmhuh?"

"I dropped one of your earrings down the sink. I'm so, so sorry. I feel terrible."

I reassured him that the earrings were in no way real pearls and that there was nothing to feel terrible about. "I don't care," I mumbled as I rolled over and almost immediately fell back to sleep. "It's fine, honey. Don't worry about it."

But David did worry about it.

In fact, he surprised me the next evening when he came home with this great score (under $6!) from Target. (Ok, so it's not Claire's but I'm not picky).

Is my guy a sweetheart or what? Now I don't have to stress about which earrings to wear with my pearls when I finally get a job. Or, you know, while I'm folding laundry around the house tomorrow. Whichever.

apartment tour

A hill is a house for an ant, an ant.

A hive is a house for a bee.
A hole is a house for a mole or a mouse
And a house is a house for me!

-A HOUSE IS A HOUSE FOR ME by Mary Ann Hoberman

A HOUSE IS A HOUSE FOR ME is one of the picture books I remember vividly from my childhood. Even now I can recite impressive chunks of it from memory and some of the illustrations are preserved perfectly in my mind.

For some time now I've been planning to show you my house. Or at least, the one I'm living in at the moment. But, you know, taking a lot of pictures of a basement apartment requires good light (you'll see I compromised a bit on this one, but a gifted photographer I am not!) and a lot of time and energy. And getting all of those things at once can be tricky!

I knew, though, that when I did get around to making this post I'd want to quote Mary Ann Hoberman's book. In fact, I've had that quote typed up and sitting in an otherwise empty blogger draft for weeks now.

Would you like to see where we live?

This is Aunt Katie and Tim's house. They are generous enough to let us live in their basement apartment while we get on our feet!

They built this incredible fire pit. It's so awesome to sit out by the fire at night.

This is the view from our front door.

Inside, the front door leads to our kitchen!

This is where the magic happens, baby!

Sometimes, I look out the window when I do dishes, and I see cows.

Really. Cows. See?

If you come over for dinner (and you know you want to) this is where you'll be sitting.

Hello, lover.

We're in the frozen tundra, here, so we have a lot of sweatshirts and coats and jackets at our fingertips.

Because I am a lucky, lucky girl I get to wear David's old hockey jacket when my own hoodies just won't do the trick.

The livingroom is where we spend most of our time.

I LOVE this little stove. At night when it's cold---even under an afghan--we light a little fire while we read and listen to music. Blissful!

And we're always reading. (Catch a glimpse of PW's cookbook? More on that in the future!)

I approve of David's bookmark!

This is the livingroom window.

The view can be really breathtaking.

Oooooh!

Hi guys!

On to the bedroom!

We even have a guest room!

Here's some pictures of the surrounding area. These views are pretty everyday for me. I see them on my way to job interviews, on my way to the farmers' market, on my way to :::cringe::: Walmart...

Stunning scenery!

And that's where we live! Definitely a big change from New York City. A big change from the suburbs of Massachusetts, even. We're so lucky to have family out here helping us out and giving us an amazing place to stay! We'll never be able to thank you enough. Truly!

(I've got to admit though, that I still miss the ocean something fierce). 

"monday, tuesday, thursday, wednesday, friday, sunday, saturday!"

*Blogger is really, REALLY frustrating me with its html glitches lately. Forgive any bizarre formatting/lost content you may experience in this post. Grrrr.

Hello! Both Kelly and David (aka "The Boyfriend") here to share with you drool-worthy pictures of our latest culinary adventures from Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday (hence the title. Familiar quote, anyone?).

SUNDAY

The Meal: chicken in a sherry mushroom sauce with garlic mashed potatoes and pan-fried asparagus.

The Chef: David

The Ingredients:

The Plate: 

The Result: 

MONDAY

After the hay ride Aunt Katie let us take a few of the leftover pumpkins to dispose of as we chose. Naturally we chose to roast the seeds (David) and make pumpkin puree (Kelly)! (Hey, Kelly promised to try her Pumpkin Apple Spice muffins with homemade puree sometimes, didn't she?)

The Ingredients:

The Result:

But there was still dinner to consider...

[car ride home after running errands]

David: (oh-so casually) So...do you want to be in charge of dinner tonight?

Kelly: (immediately) No.

David: ...

Kelly: (reluctantly) I mean, I guess I can... If I have to...

David: (immediately) Good. Cause I don't want to.

Kelly: But... whadda we got? (A rare reversal of roles!!!)

The Meal: Asparagus mushroom quiche with cheddar and green onions, in a potato crust.

The Chef: Kelly

The Ingredients:

The Plate:

TUESDAY

The Meal: Slow-cooked porkchops, carrots, sauerkraut, and apples with homemade applesauce (and a side of leftover cheesy garlic mashed potatoes. Because they are that delicious).

The Chef: David

The Sous-Chef: Kelly (she made the applesauce)

Pre-plated: 

The Plate:

The Result:

(Kelly's plate is in the upper left. Unfortunately she discovered that sauerkraut wasn't her "thing." Otherwise, another hit!)

In keeping with the jumbled quote serving as the title for tonight's post, here's a photo from last Friday. We attended a dinner party at a relative's house, and Kelly befriended an otherwise stranger-hating cat, Quimby, while battling the last of her week-long cold.

Note: Recipes are of course available on request. 

a quick update

I'm here to reassure you; I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I have, however, been sick. Like, bed-ridden sick. For over a week now! I'm finally up and about, and have been leaving the house the past few days. I still have a persistent cough that keeps me up at night if I'm not vigilant with the cough syrup, but all in all I feel loads better than I have in a long time.

It feels as though both nothing and tons of stuff has been going on in the meantime. David has had several jobs interviews, and I've had one meet-and-greet and made appointments for two more in the coming week. We went to see Where The Wild Things Are and finished watching the final season of Deadwood. We attended a dinner party and spent a day making a comic book (King Kong vs. T-Rex. For those interested, T-Rex wins) with David's five year old pseudo-nephew Gordon (his cousin's son).

We also went on a hay ride! Every year, Aunt Katie and her husband Tim put together a quintessential fall day of pumpkin decorating and take family, friends, and neighbors on a hay ride through their idyllic land. Take a look: