mélange - a mixture of often incongruous elements. Pretty pictures, yummy-looking recipes, money-saving tips, going green, noteworthy news, and stuff going on in my life. In no particular order.
Sometimes snarky. Oftentimes serious. Usually thoughtful. Never dull.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

A day all to myself.

Saturday was my Me Day: my husband's been out of town for a week, our dog has been...destructive to say the least, and I just needed a day to do whatever I wanted.
I had plans!



Look at that happy tail! And it's nice and cool out - 7:30am is a great time for a walk. So much for sleeping in late.



At this point, it feels HOT. It's about 75 and before 8 in the morning! But we get to stroll through the Incredible Edible Park, where the city r-epurposed a strip of land under power poles and next to the train track to plant food to donate to local food banks.



Make my list for the day. I love lists.



Take a quick cool shower, put on as little clothing and makeup as possible [it's about 80 degrees before 9am!] and hit the road.


Off to the farmer's market at UC Irvine after dropping Buttercup off at doggy day care.



My favorite part: the sample buffets! This particular market has over 100 vendors, so I easily round out a healthy breakfast here.



Fruuuuit. I love fruit. I bought a half-dozen of those black plums in the front - 24 hours later and there are only 2 left in the fridge!
 If I'm going to bake, I ought to clean the kitchen. Any excuse to use my new Swiffer WetJet [please tell me I'm not the only person who actually enjoys cleaning sometimes?].


All better. Moving to a new apartment every year for the past decade has taught me at least one thing: I'm NEVER having white tiled countertops when I have a house!

I'd also been asking my husband to scrub the shower/tub for over a month - I finally decided that if it mattered to me that much [and it does, I like bubble baths!], I should just shut up and do it myself. So I did.


The bathroom shines. :)



Pinterest and a popsicle break!



Nap time with a snuggly kitty.



I had a Target gift card, so I head in to stock up on laundry detergent. I can't help but browse the dollar bins, where this time I pick up an assortment of fun school items for a good friend who just landed her first full-time teaching job! [Kara, if you're reading this, look for a package next week!]



I treat myself to a manicure, something I only do about twice a year. Pretty!



Back in my car and thankful for air conditioning! I'm off to Cost Plus where I have a coupon for $10 off a $30 purchase.



I've been married for almost three years, and still get a kick out of finding products touting my 'new' last name!



I grabbed the basket for corraling books and paperwork on my coffeetable and then stock up on interesting treats for myself [and a few for my husband]. My total comes to $30.66 - I couldn't have planned it better!



Picked up the doggy - YAY for an excellent report card!



Good girl!



I found a recipe for EASY cookies on Pinterest the other day, from TidyMom.



I turn these...



Into these! These take FAR longer to bake than the recipe suggests, but mmmmmmmmm are they good!



Transition into exercises for physical therapy for my knee and chiropractic work for my back/neck. I love this one!



Dinner for me.



And then I decide I might as well make another batch of those cookies. These area a modified version of the recipe I used for the lemon cookies earlier - I added a bit of strawberry puree to the batter and a dash of vanilla extract. And baked them for almost double the time. Soooo good.


8:30 on a Saturday night and no plans, but can't leave the dog home alone. What to do?


I check out my 30 Before 30 list to see if there's a project I could start on tonight. But then something on the coffee table catches my eye.



BirchBox samples I haven't tried yet!



I grab the box and have myself a little spa time and a makeover. I've used the green apple peel [fabulous!], Laura Geller bronzer [too dark for me - I wiped almost all of it off for this photo], some strange PURPLE eyeshadow [I stick to beige/brown so this is just odd to me - what do you think?], and some orangey-brown lip paint [I liked this - AND it stayed on through washing my face for bed!]. That blackhead pore strip felt fabulous ripping off, but I can't tell that it did anything beneficial for me.



After my girly time is complete, we head out for our night time walk. It's finally cooled down! Forgive me, I still don't know how to take photos at night.



I install skype [how behind the times am I?] and video chat with my husband while he enjoys a beer up in Portland.

And then I upload the day's photo, take another cool shower, and head to bead with a book by 11.

Not as exciting as I'd hoped, but still a really great Me Day.


Did you have more fun than me this weekend? 
What do you do when you set aside time for yourself?

Friday, July 1, 2011

Saturday plans

I'm looking forward to a lovely Saturday - first day of a three-day holiday weekend!

I want to change things up a bit from the usual and treat myself to a 'Me Day'.
A day full of things just for me.

Fun things.
Relaxing things.
Perhaps even a few roductive things - but only those that I'd enjoy.

Here are a few of my intentions:

Four-ingredient cookies from TidyMom [if you can count a box of cake mix as a single ingredient!]. They are calling my name and I *must* try them!

A picnic in the park with a good book and my clever dog, Buttercup.

I have quite a selection of books to choose from - and these are just the ones i've recently borrowed from the local library! Let's not discuss the entire 'to-read' shelf of my bookcase.


We'll just pretend my bathroom is this beautiful. I'm loving trough sinks lately! Anyway, I'm planning to scrub my bathtub tomorrow. Lame and entirely NOT fun, right? However, once completed, this means I can indulge in bubble baths!

I also need to go grocery shopping - but that's actually one of my favorite 'grown-up' things to do! I follow my list to the letter [and use my coupons!], but I really enjoy strolling the aisles and comparing five varieties of orange juice, three slightly different raspberry jams, twelve assortments of crackers, etc.

And finally, I'll spend a good-sized portion of the day lounging. Pretending my living room looked 10% as fabulous as any of these I've recently come across on Pinterest:



What are your Saturday plans? Read any good books lately?