Spice it up

As you can probably tell, I am fond of cooking. Over the years, my recipe repertoire has expanded, causing me to expand my collection of various spices. While I don’t have anything terribly exotic, having a variety of options begins to add up, and spice bottles can begin to overtake the pantry. When we got married, I was gifted a spice rack, which seemed like a great idea at the time. However, it had a rather large footprint and didn’t hold many spices at all for the square footage it took up in the pantry or on the counter. Eventually, I began hatching a grand plan for functional and hyper-organized herb and spice storage.

Read Full Post »

Mid-century madness

***********
Happy Memorial Day! We’re so thankful for those who have served and do serve in our country’s military in order that we may enjoy our freedoms–life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Let’s make this day more than just about cookouts and summertime…thank a vet or active enlisted today (and everyday)!
***********

Everything vintage seems hot these days. Maybe it’s “Mad Men,” but the forward-looking mod styles of the 50s and 60s are becoming very popular again. Emulated by current furniture designers or sought after at estate sales or antique stores, it’s easy to find mid-century inspired furniture and accessories these days.

We spent quite a few months and a lot of effort bringing an old bedroom into the 21st century. However, it seemed appropriate that, when we decided to purchase a new piece of furniture for the room, we tip our hats to our 1961 traditional ranch house by incorporating of this old-become-new fashion into our modern makeover.

Read Full Post »

Stick a fork in it

After six months, I’m finally calling it. Stick a fork in it, because I’m declaring the Spare Room #1 renovation D-O-N-E.

Read Full Post »

Our first house guests

This weekend, Bart and I had our very first house guests at our new place. Seriously, people–it’s been seven months; why haven’t more of you come to visit? I guess it didn’t help that this winter was brutal, so I suppose I understand. And our current visitors had a good excuse for not making the trip until now.

Read Full Post »

Seven Months: Waterlogged with a chance of sunny optimism

It is absolutely pouring this morning. My drive into work was even more stressful than those I had to do in ice and snow this winter; I had my windshield wipers on full-blast the entire way, and that wasn’t overkill. Water was pouring off overpasses, and the curbs in town were rushing rivers of water. Fortunately, I made it to work safely, if a little soggy. I don’t have a lot of years of local experience to compare this one to, but it seems that this spring is extraordinarily wet. This isn’t the first crazy downpour I’ve seen since March, and I’m willing to bet it won’t be the last.

Read Full Post »

Battle-field trip: Gettysburg

Last week, I told you about some work field trips to nearby research labs. Bart and I had our own field trip this weekend to the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg. This has been on our list of things to see ever since we moved, but we never made it up there last year (which would have been neat, as 2013 was the 150th anniversary). I blame it on house hunting nearly every single weekend last summer. However, we took some time off house projects for a little local sightseeing.

Read Full Post »

Happy Seventh Murphday!

Murphy, you annoy the snot out of us sometimes: you puke on my new rug, you piddle in the floor every time someone comes over and pets you and you’re so excited, you bark like crazy in the yard, we can’t take you out on the leash because you try to protect us from every perceived threat and sound like you’re going to tear them up, and you are an epic whiner. But you’re a sweet companion, you love everybody who comes to visit, you get so excited over the little things like dinner time and treats, you (sort of) chase the squirrels away from the bird feeder, you want to cuddle on our laps, you are sooo happy to see us when we come home, you’re very intelligent (though stubborn), you run circles around the house like a maniac when you’re feeling ornery and playful, you like to tuck yourself into bed under your blanket dachshund-style, and you’re a good sport when we tease you. Given where we were five months ago, we’re glad that you’re still around, and we don’t take for granted that you can stand and wag while posing for a birthday pic this morning.

Read Full Post »

Field trip

Grab your permission slip and a sack lunch, because it’s time for a field trip!

In the last few weeks, my group at work has taken two trips to visit other research labs in the DC area. Visiting the lab of a fellow researcher is pretty standard practice in physics. If you’re in town for a meeting, you might call up someone you knew in grad school or who is doing work related to yours and stop by and chat about their work. You usually learn something new about a different topic and also trade advice and tips on the gritty details of experimental physics. There are plenty of research establishments in the DC area doing work that’s tangentially related to ours, so when some recent opportunities to go visit a couple of labs arose, our group decided to pay them a visit.

Read Full Post »

It’s already May!

Happy Cinco de Mayo. I don’t really understand why Americans celebrate this holiday so fervently, though I suspect the reason somehow involves tequila. And I hope you had a great Star Wars Day yesterday (May the Fourth be with you). All these recent festive days remind me that it’s already May, and this year is already 1/3 over! I didn’t make a specific monthly challenge for May, but I plan to keep up with some previous goals, focus on finishing up some projects around the house, and having some fun, too.

Read Full Post »