Summer Goals 2016!

There's no backstory here except that I like lists. And goals. And recently wondered what would happen (primarily at work but I think it applies here too) if I got less like, aspirational and more action-oriented in my language and thoughts. So I give you, for foreshadowing and for the sake of my focus, Summer Goals 2016:

1. Get married. That's kind of a big one. IT'S COMING UP SO FAST.
2. Rose. As in, drink rose wine. I feel like it started as a trend last year and while I am sooo loyal to a nice dry white (Shoutout to Sauvignon Blanc! Hello old friend.) for the sake of adventure I'd like to branch out without staining my lips all the time. Bonus points if anything I find is from Michigan.
3. Green chiles. This seems to be a big theme in the food in New Mexico, where my aunt currently resides and where my grandma lived for several years till her recent passing. They're so amusing to me because I feel like I didn't even know they were there my whole life, and to go to a place where they're so featured just reminds me what a big country it is and how much food (and place and culture) I have yet to explore. Yes, this vegetable does all that. Also they're just so delicious and have lots of variation in heat, and have lots of awesome applications into my favorite foods like mac & cheese, Mexican food, etc. So I suppose test-runs of green chile products and finding ways to incorporate them into our dinners (/brunches??) is a goal.
4. Throw myself into a J. Geils Band phase. For good measure.
5. Home organization. To be honest it's not in that bad of shape, but there are still those areas that hang on with piles of crap (sometimes well-concealed, sometimes not): the basement, the bedroom with Charles' closet we use as a "dressing room" (i.e. work-related papers, unread books, etc.), the dining room sideboard, etc. And the shed is a haunted nightmare (in appearance only, I hope). If I tackled one or two of these areas I'd feel pretty good about that.
6. And as the underline to all these things, have lots of fun and engage with blogging and books and hikes.

Good news: I've already started on goals 2 and 3 with the help of the Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer haha. And goal 5 but that had less to do with TJs and more to do with Charles. See reviews and update below.

• TJ's green chile mac & cheese: It was yummy, but lacks enough heat or TCV (total chile volume). I would like to take this and then blend in some hotter green chiles. But still very delicious and recommended and added to the life repertoire, probably more for sad desk lunch than dinner in the future.
• Josefina rose from TJ's: First and foremost this wine is 5.99. Excellent. It was advertised as "not as sweet" as the variety is typically criticized for being, which sounded great per my love of dry things. Not gonna lie, it was different. It feels more...I don't know, winey... than a white does. Like a little acidic and strange. And the color is like a browny pink which isn't my favorite for spring. (It's like, "it's brown outside because it's a cloudy Michigan day, and this glass is sad too.") But for all my critique I'm about to pour myself my second glass, so you know, I suppose it's not that bad. Chalking it up to being my inaugural bottle in this category. And if you have recommendations I'd love love love to hear them. (Curiosity: is sparkling rose a thing? Besides the Barefoot pink champagne because that's SO sweet, but is there something else?) Or if there are cocktails that involve rose. Innnteresting.
• The dressing room had a big night last night. I let myself throw out this really sad blazer that I'm sure was once $100+ at Limited when I bought it for my job interview, then it no longer fit me, then I moved, then it was on the dressing room floor for 3 years where it collected ungodly amounts of dust. And I had since always supposed I'd get it dry cleaned and donate it because at some point it cost dollars. But I finally went to pick it up and it made me think of the scary opener to Hoarders where it's described that hoarders keep things even when they're unsanitary, and how the people on the show say, like, "That's for a project for later, here's what I'm going to do with it"... so I got it into the trash. #momentsofclarity And Charles vacuumed and we otherwise straightened things up a bit. It's not done but it's SO much cleaner and happier now.

Onward!
xoxo

What if I...cracked this back open??

Oh, hello!

I had all but forgotten about this. Something (now forgotten) reminded me about it recently when I was visiting Michelle and Ping (who now both reside in Atlanta), and since then I've been a little intrigued. About what I wrote here in the first place, whether it might be fun to get it going again, and what other blogortunities there are for my thoughts and for staying connected with friends (stay tuned on that one). I think I really did enjoy all the endeavors showcased the first time around (which - stay with me - was somehow 5 years ago now). But what I notice when reading back is that something not-quite-authentic happened in my voice on that first year of posts. And it's something I realized when reading other blogs - that, while I (and I assume those other bloggers) speak at least relatively normally in conversations, and write at least relatively coherently in work and what not, the blog sounded like a different person somehow. So. This is me reflecting on what it might be like to open this path up again, to myself and to whatever small collection of friends might see this, as I continue the homemaking journey. The...full-time-dedicated-employee-who's-partnered-to-another-full-time-dedicated-employee homemaking journey.

To compress years of detail, we had so much fun and so much hosting and so much love in our little rental house. Its joys and its limitations (and its ridiculous Ann Arbor cost) pushed us toward buying a home just a few blocks north. Which we've now been in for 3 years, which is so hard to believe! (Just a cool 27 years remaining on that mortgage! Woof.) We were incredibly blessed with a great realtor and supportive family members (dude, mortgage-getting is a stressful process that I really don't wish on anyone) and most of all, we were blessed with the most exuberantly helpful band of friends (and family too) who pushed with us through the first frenzy of home renos. That first six months was a whirlwind: knocking down walls (parts of which still shamefully live in our shed), priming and painting and painting again over the truly bizarre color choices of the former tenants, ripping up and replanting flower beds, and playing General Contractor to the likes of plumbers, tile installers, asbestos-remediators, floor refinishers, locksmiths, and electricians. I cannot understate the gift our community gave us in donating all that time and friendship and support, and I think often about the people who painted this cabinet, that piece of trim, that window frame, that wall.

That same community is with us now as we embark on our Next Big Milestone, which is our upcoming wedding this July. (80 days - gulp.) For all the work that went into the first renovation push, there's still SO, so much we want to do, because yeah...we picked a doozie of a fixer. I think my first inkling that my optimism and moxie about the whole house needed to be taken down a notch was when Charles' beloved (and pragmatic) childhood friend walked through the house for the first time practically tearing up from the laughter and said, "You guys have like a decade of work to do here." OH. That really was news to us. But while it was a prick in our balloon in one way, it was also incredibly validating that this was just going to have to be a go-as-we-can [pay] operation, and that it can be in stages, and that's OK and to be expected. So we've done little things here and there, and I really look forward to more projects with this love of my life and our helpful family and friends. And some choice professionals when it's out of our skill set.

Other things to expect:
-Still vegetarian. Trying to build motivation around my new low-sodium dietary prescription. It's. So. Hard.
-We got a dog! He might just complicate our projects, especially those involving scraping or drilling into the house or using power tools. He seems really concerned with maintaining structural integrity. And he will I'm sure be an adorable poster boy for outdoor areas.
-My continued quest for simplicity. We both work, so it's important to us to move from getting home to the relaxing/eating part quickly. And I both love a clean house and wish it could come together in a matter of seconds.
-I'm growing increasingly aware that the less stuff I have, the cleaner the house is. Now juxtapose that with a wedding registry. We'll see what shakes out. But I'm getting quite efficient at clearing out unused clothes (and working on rebuilding a grown lady wardrobe that looks and lasts better than the trendy rags of yesteryear) at the very least - and it's at least an aspiration of mine to continue that simplicity into our other kinds of possessions. For organization's and aesthetics' and ethics' sake.

So in sum, hi again! It's springtime in Michigan. The patio doesn't particularly exist on this house just yet... but we'll still have lots to explore. To 2016!

xoxo
mcdrew