A Decorating Circus

For a while, I've been swooning over the mason jar chandeliers I see all over the internet.  The enormous fixtures are neat but I love the simple pendant clusters the most.

Etsy: BootsNGus

Unfortunately, all the chandeliers I have seen are way out of my price range. Fearlessly, I took that as as sign that I needed to make my own.  I decided on three jars and hanging lamp cords.  A little bit of elbow grease and I had a light fixture I love!

For a while, my new mason jar pendant chandelier sat in a box in my closet.  I just had nowhere to put it.  When I moved into Apartment 1925, I immediately knew that I wanted to hang it above my dining table.  Easier said than done, apparently.

There were already a couple hooks in my ceiling so we decided just to reposition one.  The trouble started when I climbed up on my step ladder.  It's a bit taller than a dining chair so I thought I would be able to reach the ceiling with ease.  What I hadn't counted on was the fact that the ceilings in Apartment 1925 are quite tall.  Tall enough that I could touch the ceiling with my fingertips but there was no way I would be able to get my hand high enough to screw a hook into the ceiling.

This was an interesting problem for me.  I'm fairly tall and rarely have difficulty reaching anything.  My mom was visiting and for a moment we were both at a loss.  All the usual alternative were no-gos -- no access to a taller step ladder; no tall friends or acquaintances in my new city.  All I had was a mason jar chandelier that I dearly wanted to hang from the ceiling.

Then I had an idea.  A brilliant idea, if I do say so myself.  I sprang to the closet and pulled out a pair of my summer wedges.  They're cute and fabulous but, most importantly in this situation, they have a five inch heel.  And being wedges, I thought they would be fairly stable.

So I strapped on my shoes and gingerly climbed the step ladder.  With my mom grabbing my belt loops to stabilize me, I was able to reach the ceiling and begin screwing the hook in.  Did you know that the ceilings of Apartment 1925 are super tough?  Even with the shoes allowing me to get the proper leverage, it was still very difficult.  When my arm got tired, my mom even took a turn with the wedges and screwed it in a bit more.  The whole process was ridiculous!  Half the time we were both laughing so hard that nothing was getting accomplished.

Finally, we decided the hook was secure enough.  I looped the cords over it and lowered the jars to the point we had already determined before moving the table.  I swagged the cords over to the hook that was (thankfully!) already in the ceiling by the window.

Then I ran the cords down the wall, up against the window frame.  I used a series of small nails to wedge the cords between the nails and the window frame.  Into the power strip and ta-da!

Isn't it gorgeous?!

This Is Not My Guac

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Normally, I am definitely not the make-my-own-guacamole kind of girl.  I might enjoy being that girl actually.  I imagine she's playful and inventive and has a certain zest for life.  She also likes avocados.  And that is the number one reason I know I am not that girl- I do not like avocados.  No, I'm not violently opposed to them but I'd just as soon leave them on the table.  I certainly wouldn't buy avocados, especially not for the sole purpose of making guacamole.

But you know my motto: when the grocery store hands you free avocados with a $5 purchase, you make guacamole.

I swear, that is in fact a motto of mine.  Not one that I try to apply to every aspect of my life but one of those little clauses that applies to specific situations.

I used my free avocados, a friend's free avocados, some ingredients from my fridge, and this recipe to make my first guacamole ever.  My only issue was that the recipe called for it to be salted to taste.  I struggle to salt anything to taste because I just don't put salt on my food unless the recipe calls for a specific amount.  I had no idea how salty guacamole should be anyway.  Fortunately, a friend was having a get-together that night.  I told her I would be happy to bring guacamole but that she would have to salt it herself.  So I brought, she salted, and everyone ate.  It was declared to be quite good, with the perfect amount of tomatoes.  Since choosing exactly how many tomatoes to add had not been determined by the recipe, I considered this to be a credit to my splendid cooking judgement, which I clearly possess in spades.

And yes, seeing everyone enjoy my masterpiece did make me just a tiny bit curious.  I had a taste and confirmed that I still don't particularly care for guacamole.  At least it was fun to make!

2nd Time's the Charm

Not every recipe works for me the first time.  Don't even ask about all the cake, muffin, and cookie recipes that I've had go wrong.  I want to become a better cook but for now I'm sticking with the easy stuff.

This recipe for shells with peas, pesto, and sun-dried tomatoes seemed like just my thing.  Quick, easy, pasta.  Still, the first time around, I managed to mess up before I even started cooking- while I was at the grocery store in fact.  The only sun-dried tomatoes my grocery store had were organic and much more expensive than the regular canned, diced tomatoes.  So I decided that the cheaper tomatoes would be a safe substitution.  I didn't think they'd be as delicious, but it seemed worth a try.  For some reason, I chose diced tomatoes with lime and cilantro.  Just for the record, lime, cilantro, and pesto do not really go together.  The results certainly weren't horrible but I had a strong feeling that I could do better.

So, I gathered my ingredients again.  I broke down and bought some (less expensive) sun-dried tomatoes.  I think I probably could have left out the tomatoes entirely but I wanted to try the recipe in its true form.  This time, I was more than pleased with the results.

Just a couple things:

-- My sun-dried tomatoes were "Julienne sliced."  That was fine but I think diced would have been better.

-- I halved the recipe and that does seem to yield three modest servings.

-- I used pre-made pesto from a jar because I didn't want to have too many things going at once.

Yes, this recipe is one to remember.  I love that I can keep all the ingredients in my fridge and freezer and just throw it together in minutes.