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The Kitchen Sink

On June 18, 2009, In Home, Work, By LisaT

I spend so much time lamenting the fact that I can’t afford to be a homeowner out here in Los Angeles, I forget that there are certain benefits I enjoy as a renter. When my kitchen faucet inexplicably sprang a leak, it was so comforting to be able to just submit a work order request and know that not only was someone else going to fix it, but that I wouldn’t have to pay for it.

Now that I’m working from home, I get to supervise all repairs taking place in my apartment when the repair guys pop on over. And I figured that it was only a matter of time before this perplexing situation would finally push the guys to ask, “What do you do?” I replied, “Well, I work from home, as you can see, writing for a website.”

A moment of contemplation ensued. After that, he asked, “Do you trade? You know, trade stocks online?”

I was so amused by the fact that my answer was clearly not an acceptable one to explain how I’m paying my rent and bills every month without a roommate in sight that I almost told him, “Why yes. I do.”

Tagged with: Home

Pool Progress

On June 18, 2009, In Home, By LisaT

I was very skeptical that the pool renovations would be done in time for the arrival of the warm summer weather, but as we speak, the newly redone pool in my apartment complex is being filled up with water. Color me impressed. It’s so pretty and blue and clean. I can’t wait start lounging by it, a margarita in one hand and a trashy library book in the other.

Tagged with: Home • Pool • Summer • Weather

Tomatoes on The Vine

On June 17, 2009, In Food, Home, Nature, Projects, By LisaT

Two weekends ago, Betsy and I went on a monster shopping trip to Marshalls, Target, Lowes and Jons that ended with me lugging home a large pot, a bag of potting soil, a tomato plant and two herbs.

This was done in the hopes of turning my brown thumb green. I figured that since the bamboo shoot I’d received as a wedding favor was still alive, I had a good shot at not immediately killing these new green pets.

So far, there’s one sizable tomato swelling on the vine, with two smaller ones following close behind. And then there’s also the chocolate mint and lemon balm, which seems to be doing just as well. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I’m posting about the delicious tomato I’ve harvested.

Tagged with: Food • Gardening • Home • Plant • Tomato • Vegetables

Tropical Kitchen Island Breezes: Seafood Stew

On June 16, 2009, In Food, Home, Recipes, By LisaT

After wrestling with the instructions and millions of bits and pieces in which my kitchen island from Target arrived, I triumphantly took a long, hard look at the vast acreage of counter space I had acquired. Success!

The purchase was a special treat to myself, for cutting back on my restaurant outings. Also, the free shipping and online discount made it a no-brainer. Especially when I heard the UPS guy lugging the box up the stairs to my apartment front door. “I thought someone was dragging a corpse,” I told him after thanking him and subsequently ripping the box open virtually immediately.

To celebrate, I’m preparing a seafood stew for dinner this evening. It’s one of those grab-bag-type recipes I love so much. In case you’re interested:

Ingredients:
-A handful of frozen shrimp
-1 bag of Trader Joe’s mixed seafood: shrimp, calamari rings and sea scallops
-1 cup of frozen sweet corn
-1/2 cup of white wine
-1 can of Select Harvest Light Maryland-Style Crab Soup
-Handful of chopped red onion
-Handful of chopped cilantro
-Pat of butter

Directions:
Simply toss the whole business into the Crock Pot and let cook for a few hours. You can cook about 1/2 a cup of rice to go with the whole business once the stew is done. Make sure to invite over friends to help enjoy the bounty.

Calorie-counting folk neither allowed nor welcome! Sorry, but this ain’t a fat-free kitchen, y’all.

Tagged with: Apartment • Cooking • Food • Home • Kitchen • Recipes • Seafood

Refrigerator Shenanigans Solved

On June 16, 2009, In Food, Home, By LisaT

Why haven’t I been posting lately? Because I’ve been busy constructing elaborate solutions to keep my refrigerator from popping open for no reason. This is actually Refrigerator Solution 3.0. I kid you not.

Also, be kind and ignore the marks left by my grubby hands. Not only was I too lazy to wipe it off before I took the picture, but I was also too lazy to clean it up in Photoshop.

Tagged with: Home • Kitchen • Refrigerator

Apartment Complexities

On December 24, 2008, In Friends, Nature, Photo Gallery, By LisaT

The other day, I went for a hike to my favorite nearby hike of the moment, Fryman Canyon, with my good buddy, Dan. I suggested he bring his new, fancy digital camera so that he could take pictures if something caught his eye.

As we were walking, he kept saying, “Hmm, I don’t feel like this is a very picturesque hike.” Eventually, we took a photo break to pose for a total of two pictures, with the hills we had climbed behind us in the background.

An epiphany occurred to me about what my goal with writing this blog is. It’s all about taking the mundane and trying to figure out ways to dress it up into something of interest—taking pictures of my apartment complex and finding that which is picturesque in the images I see every day to and from work.

That’s really the challenge of this blog.

And my life, really.