The Metaphorical Magpie

It's been four months

Time for a status report on the little ol' 101 Things in 1001 Days list.

It's amazing how much you can get accomplished when you know you have it on a list waiting for a check mark. Or what seemingly impossible things will come your way if you write them down as a tangible goal. I'm convinced making this list has brought several new opportunities my way. Having the list emboldens me to get out there and get something done.

1. Grow plants from seed. (completed) We have been munching on lettuce and radishes from seeds sown in the garden. Rainbow chard, beets, onions and a lonely carrot are coming in, too. Plus some bonus tomatoes and mystery squash that seems to have sprouted from the compost we put in the vegetable beds. Sweets photographed me last weekend rounding up some veggies.

2. Learn to can/preserve.  (in progress) I spent a few hours researching books on the topic and settled on Stocking Up by Carol Hupping

7. Have a portrait made of myself with my dogs. (completed) Sweets took a photo of us together when it was still freezing out. I know this sounds very la-di-da but I've always secretly desired a portrait painted of me with my dogs. Not that Quentin would ever sit still for something like that.

23. Start a collaborative project with another blogger(s). (in progress) Shannon and I are trying to put our heads together on something. More on that when we know ourselves.

24. Learn to produce and edit video. (completed) Hey, I'm not saying I'm a pro yet but I've had the training and I'm working on it every week.

29. Meet a fellow blogger(s) (completed/ ongoing progress) Met Bella and Susanna at Kristen's on 4/12/08. And M. Heart on 4/22/08.

41. Visit the Neaue Gallerie. (completed) on 6/14/08

51. Set up a Bloglines reader with all the sites I regularly read (completed) It is so much faster to check blogs this way. If you don't have a feed, what are you waiting for? It the coolest thing since blue Kool-Aid.

56. Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (incomplete) show closed before I got there.

68. Eliminate grass in our front yard. (completed)

69. Grow vegetables in our garden. (completed/in progress) Lettuce and radishes are being eaten now. We 're watching tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, beans, zucchini, rainbow chard, onions, beets, carrots happily grow as we steadily get hungrier.

70. Repaint existing bedroom furniture or replace with new thrifted set (in progress)

86. Make time to really celebrate our first anniversary. (completed)  We took a lovely three day jaunt up to Hudson, NY. Stayed at the nicest inn, Thyme in the Country, with nicest innkeepers. Photos from our trip in this Flickr set.

92. Take the 2008 Self Challenge (incomplete) I signed up but didn't like the program.

Tally thus far:
completions: 9
in progress: 4
incompletes: 2

What number should I take on next?

What a weekend consists of... by the numbers

12- Bags of pine bark nuggets purchased
11- Earliest I dragged my booty out of bed each morning
10- Rating I'd give this weekend
9- types of produce purchased: Eggplant, zucchini, swiss chard, tomatoes, scallions, mangoes, bananas, blueberries, lemons
8- 93% fat free mini burgers flecked with bits of bleu or Cotswold cheese stashed in the freezer
7- Retail establishments visited- Borders (2x), Coastal Habitat for Humanity store, Home Depot, Lowes, Delicious Orchards, Shop-Rite
6- grilled clams eaten for a pre-dinner snack
5- unexpected purchase of five chairs and a dining room table for $50 that will match our china closet and kitchen cabinets wonderfully when it eventually replace the one we've got now. Stashed in the garage until it gets a facelift- after the bedroom furniture is finished up. We do love our projects around here.
4- Sushi rolls shared at Sawa in Eatontown with Cyndemouse and Sweets
3- hamburger rolls Quentin snatched off the table and gnawed on while we were outside grilling
2- Home improvement stores visited to buy pine bark nuggets
1- nasty tick removed from Quentin
0-Amount of grass left in our front yard. YEAH!

summer... summer... summertime

In celebration of the summer solstice, indulge in a soundtrack today of songs all entitled "Summertime."

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (yeah, we're going way back)

Scarlett Johansson sings the jazz standard over "Lost in Translation" footage

Press my apron and call me Suzy Homemaker

Couldn't resist following a link to this test from Bekka. How do you size up? I was surprised how well I did.

67 As a 1930s wife, I am Superior Take the test!

One Local Summer

Last month, I discovered a new online challenge to participate in called One Local Summer. The premise is simple. "Participants will be expected to make one meal each week using locally grown ingredients (we use the typical 100 mile radius definition - your definition may vary).  The permissible exceptions to this rule are oil, salt and pepper, and spices." In my usual slow pokiness, I spent a lot of time thinking about this, doing research and then sat out the first week to see what the other participants posted. Now I'm ready to roll.

Gathering local ingredients is harder than it seems. I've read lots of labels and looked online for nearby places to shop. I visited the Sunday farmers market in Red Bank, NJ to see what the options there were. I suspiciously eyed homemade mozzarella and ravioli. When I questioned the vendor about where the milk came from, he could not answer my question, so no cheese for me. The produce choices were still pretty slim this early in the season. I settled on some fabulous beets and spinach. While there, I also bought some baby bok choy, a six pack cell of sugarbaby watermelon plants and a six pack of teensy rosemary plants. I almost bought some heirloom tomatoes with the colorful moniker, Boxcar Willy, but held back since I've already got so many tomato plants going.

The beets and spinach seemed like the beginning of a meal but I wanted more ingredients. Out to our own little veggie patch in our front yard for some lettuce, a sprig of lovage and French Breakfast radishes. A visit to Deerborn Market in Holmdel, NJ turned up some red leaf lettuce marked as NJ grown and a hunk of Vampire Slayer, a garlicky cheddar cheese produced by Calkins Creamery in Honesdale, PA. When I bought it, I was unsure where Honesdale is located. Turns out it is 117 miles from my house... but by invoking some black math ie Clinton style calculations, I was happy to discover the creamery is only 98 miles from my office. Works for me! I also added some diced ham that was clearly marked Made in New Jersey on the package I picked up at Shop-Rite. The salad is topped off with a simple dressing I whipped up with red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh parsley.

To see more people using local ingredients for meal this summer, broken down by regions across the U.S., visit the One Local Summer page which is hosted by Farm Philly (which is addictive itself.)

This song popped into my head today

"Power of Love" by Dee-Lite brings back some great summer memories

Birthday weekend highlights

Saturday was my birthday. As soon as I saw Summerstage would be having a Vampire Weekend concert on that day, my basic birthday plans were set. We decided to take the train into the city. JPo, Cyndemouse, Sweets and I met up ready to go. We brought the fixings for a train picnic- cherries, grapes, homemade hummus and taboule salad, pretzels and adorable heartshaped Polish gingerbread cookies. JPo looked for other things to do while on the Upper East Side. We settled on the Gustav Klimt exhibit at the Neue Gallerie (which also allows me to check something off my 101 Things in 1001 Days list). The museum itself is an amazing space, designed by the same architects as the New York Public Library. The Vanderbilt family occupied it for some time. The exhibit was terrific. Unexpectedly, the highlight for me was the only known surviving painters smock that Klimt once wore. I came back to it several times and felt the hair rise on the back of my neck as if this garment of indigo linen still possessed his lingering energy. There was also a recreation of the receiving parlor of his studio. The showstopper was, of course, the painting of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, which was utterly exquisite. I could have gazed at it all afternoon. The relief work in silver and gold begged to trail  a finger across it. Although I was not allowed to do so, I wonder if Adele ever did so. The show is on until June 30th. If you have half a chance to go, I suggest you do.

After we regrouped, we ventured out onto Fifth Ave to walk down to the Summerstage show. Seven blocks later, we found ourselves scurrying under a scaffolding to shelter ourselves from a thunderstorm that lasted about an hour. More and more people joined us from sunbathing interrupted in Central Park and the 79 bus that stopped on the corner repeatedly. The rain finally stopped and we headed over to the concert. Hundreds of people has reformed a line to enter the show. Unsure if we should get online, we walked in the park and listened to Kid Sister do her set. Then we decided to get on the line. A group from Orlando stood behind us. The kids were performing at Carnegie Hall. One boy sized up the crowd and hissed, "these look like evil people." I turned around and told him they were called hipsters and completely harmless. Then I assured their chaperone, yes, you can find a restaurant in New York City open after 10 p.m. That did give me a chuckle. Once the gate was reopened, the crowd moved in quickly. We got settled, the band started to play and it began raining again. Gently at first and then full on downpour.  As the rain was at it's heaviest, the band played "The Kids Don't Stand A Chance."

If I'm going to get caught in a torrential downpour, I might as well do it with the Bad Girl Posse. Cyndemouse and JPo rocked the umbrella while I pulled my never before worn Kate Spade rain poncho on over my head. I had batted my eyes and pleaded with Cyndemouse to change her plans for the day and join us in the city for my birthday celebration. I bet at this point she was wishing she stuck to her guns and was sitting in a comfortable auction house viewing Pucci dresses go on the block.

Sweets let the ladies use the umbrella and got thoroughly soaked except for the parts I helped cover with my poncho. Towards the end of the show, the rain stopped. We made our way to the subway with the rest of the drenched masses. We got off at 42nd St, walked three blocks and, yep, it started pouring again. Improvisation was in order. Spying a Kati Roll Co, we popped inside there and were greeted with a dry warm place to hide out from the rain and delicious Indian street food. We sampled the Aloo Masala Roll (spicy potato) and Achiri Paneer Roll (excellently seasoned Indian cheese cubes). That served as appetizer course. A short while later, we settled into a Korean restaurant on 32nd for a feast. After that we were still soggy and tired so we headed back to the train. No cocktails or dessert to be had. Oh well, seeing Vampire Weekend was intoxicating and celebrating with my favorite people was sweeter than any cake.

Meme Monday

1. Rachel's Art Photography, 2. Metzis Tasty Takeaway Hamburger with the lot - Australian style!, 3. WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM!!!, 4. Little Girl in Turquoise Sea, 5. Robert Downey Jr & Terrence Howard, 6. first day of summer, 7. Lake Matheson, 8. Ice CreaM, 9. a family dinner, 10. Harvest, 11. The Inquisitive Bunting, 12. Necklace from roxydynamite

I was taking a walkabout over at Muppinstuff this morning and got sucked into playing along with her with this visual meme.

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name

Let me know if you post one of your own. I'd love to take a peeksie.

Linky love

Things have been quiet here as I try to keep my mind from completely exploding with all the new things I've been learning how to do on the video front. I do tend to get wrapped up in one thing. I may not be writing much these days but I'm keeping up with all of my lovely bloggy pals.

Some fantastic posts out there recently:

Shannon talks about how she became debt free. Yeah for Shannon! I'm a true believer of getting out from under the man. She has a very simple strategy for getting the job done.

More on the monetary front from The Shopping Sherpa as she outlines her personal Fiscal Fast. She's too hard core for me and I'm pretty dang thrifty already.

An amazing events calendar for free events in NYC courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan. Bookmark it!

Alex Beauchamp on getting out there and DOING something with your life. She is one of the reasons I became a blogger and she's inspired me endlessly over the years.

Darlene sending her neighborhood a love note.

A tour of a delightful shop called Cargo in Portland, OR by Abby Try Again.

Alicia Paulson previews the  cover for her book, "Stitched in Time: Memory-Keeping Projects to Sew and Share from the Creator of Posie Gets Cozy," which will be released in November but is available for preorders now. Go Posie!

Another pre-sale to be excited about is "For the Love of Light: A Tribute to the Art of Polaroid" created by Jenifer Altman and collaborated on with 25 photographers in 10 countries. Only 500 copies of the book will be sold. This book looks like it  will be very, very special.