Category: Golightly Living

I was an early adapter of Pinterest, but even though I’m one of those geeks who reads terms of service, I was careless in how I used what I fondly called my “happy place.” This post made me take a long look at how I had been using Pinterest. I realized that I was no longer comfortable with the site, and that I was not likely to change my practices there. The only solution for me was to extricate myself from the site. I’m sad about doing so. I’ve had a lot of entertainment looking at pretty pins, but I strive to behave according to my ethics, and the way I used Pinterest was not aligned with my values. I know there are arguments to be made about the publicity pinning can generate for a site, but I never bought into those arguments with Napster, and I don’t now. I’m a creator. I want to respect others who create, and this is one way I can do so.

Today I recorded a screencast to demonstrate how I’m moving away from Pinterest. One of my favorite uses of it was to compile interesting recipes and notes. I’m sure there are easier and maybe even more elegant solutions, but this is working well for me. I have my on-line recipes organized in Evernote, and I can access them via my iPhone and iPad.

To their credit, Pinterest has revised its terms. Over the last few weeks, though, I’ve felt the need to limit my information intake. I don’t feel overwhelmed. Rather, I feel that I’ve been giving my ideas short shrift; something new pops into my head about every seven minutes, and I want to slow that down and work with all the interesting thoughts and projects taking root there already.

I hope that my screencast is useful; I would love to hear how you organize your on-line recipes.

Our little ranch in the woods of Connecticut has undergone quite a bit of sprucing. Neal has painted the living room (for the second time since October; he wasn’t satisfied with the linen white he used the first time), dining room, bedroom, and bathroom.

I left the house while Neal attacked the living room. I returned to find the registers had undergone an even bigger transformation that the walls: Krylon. When I asked him what inspired this move, the painter replied, “The bold interplay of color and texture that was available through the spray can. In addition, the desire for a super smooth coat that could only be achieved through spray drove me to   Krylon.”

Since then, we’ve joked that everything improves with a bit of silky, rich Krylon. Registers, thermometer, door bell chimes cover: all have taken on a new gleam. Perhaps best of all, though, have been the flashes of color (tomato with Benjamin Moore’s Mushroom Cap, and burgundy with the green walls,  if you want to replicate) throughout the house: the switch plate covers.

Neal set up a Krylon station in the basement for the production work he has undertaken. Following are his tips to Krylon like a pro.

Pop a few holes in your work board. Place the switch plate screws in the holes.

Place plate covers on board. After shaking the spray can, spray evenly. Even though Krylon has great coverage, it may take more than one coat.

If you need more than one coat, let the paint dry to the touch, about 15 minutes, before adding the second coat. Remember: two light coats are better than one heavy one!

Once the paint is dry, go ahead and hang up that switch plate, and enjoy a splash of color on your walls!

The Karina Chronicles is running my guest post about packing light. Go ahead, take a look!

In it, I mention my ten-minute packing timeframe. Normally I take a little longer, but we had a situation the day of our departure to Paris. I worked in the morning, holding conferences with my students. At around 10:00 a.m., I checked my email, only to see a message that the airline had canceled our flight. I called Neal, who had taken the day off (luckily), and after some heated phone calls, he was able to get us on an earlier flight.

I had to reschedule a few students, rush home, find a ride to the airport, finish straightening out the house, and pack. I was supposed to have had about four hours for most of this, and instead, I had less than 90 minutes.

This is what I love about being a list maker and a light packer. After a few moments of panic, I was able to calmly get my act together without missing anything I’d decided to take. What might have been a huge inconvenience was merely a small inconvenience.

What are your favorite tips for preparing to travel?

I color my hair. Teri, the girl who sat behind me in high school French class, plucked a white hair from my head when I was 14. When my roots grow out, I see that I am almost fully white haired. I suppose some day I will take the awkward plunge into the white-hair pool, but not quite yet.

One plunge I took last year that has had great results, though, is no longer washing my hair every day. For as long as I’ve taken care of my own hair, with only a few exceptions, I washed it daily. Three moments within a few weeks of each other made me change that practice: Sarah, whose hair is beautiful, told me that not washing every day was one of her secrets; Dr. Oz, whom I occasionally watch while biking inside, said that washing every other day was much healthier for hair; my amazing stylist, Em, encouraged me to change my habit.

At first, it grossed me out. I felt greasy, but this is natural. According to this article, over-shampooing leads to over-secretion of oil. I don’t know if I got used to the feeling or less washing led to less oil (or a combination of both, which is most likely), but now I time my washings so that my “off” days coincide with when I want my hair to look best. The day I wash, my hair, naturally fine and, I always thought, stick straight, seems lifeless. First day sans shampoo is better. Second day (or what I think of as three-day hair), my hair is wavy, feels thicker, and looks its healthiest. It might be hard to tell, but that’s a three-day hair shot. There are waves in my short tresses!

The next step I want to take is to go even longer without shampooing in the shower. I’m going to give dry shampoo a try. This doesn’t mean I’ll never wash my hair again, but I can’t get enough of that three-day hair. It looks like beach hair, which is about the best hair in the world in my book!

What are your dirty little (hair) secrets?

Yesterday I journeyed to my favorite city with Sara to keep her company as she attended to paperwork needed for her marriage in and move to France. It was a busy afternoon, which ended with a quick rainstorm as we headed to Port Authority. When I saw dozens and dozens of New Yorkers looking at the sky, I turned and looked, too.

Perhaps I saw this rainbow to remind me that even when we are an ocean apart, my dear friend and I will always be connected.

No grilling for our July 4th this year. Instead, roasted chicken, chick pea salad, ribboned asparagus, Greek Quinoa salad, warm bread and brie for our lunch. I’ve been on a quest to perfect my rhubarb pie, and while it is still a bit sweet for my taste, I’m getting closer. To mark this 235th birthday of my beloved country, I crafted “U.S.A.” out of dough for the top of the pie. A little fresh whip on that, and there you have a festive birthday luncheon!

Pickled sunshine lemons have caused a comment stir, so let me tell you more about them!  I first tasted them at our friend Isa’s house. She dices them with cukes, peppers, tomatoes…whatever is fresh and summery.  Her dish is one of my favorites.   She learned from her father how to pickle lemons, and she’s quite generous in sharing them with me.

Over the winter, after my Christmas stash from Isa ran out, I decided to give pickling lemons a whirl.  While I still want to learn her method, the one I did is easy peasy, if a little pricey.

I use this recipe, which is similar to the one I linked in the last post.  It’s important to use organic lemons, since you eat the rind, but you don’t have to use organic (at least I don’t use them) for juicing.  I was ambitious and made a HUGE jar of these. To save money, I’ll use smaller jars and put them on a rotating cycle. Since they take a month to cure, I’ll probably keep three or four going at a time.

Here’s a little secret: pickled lemons are in mad love with olives!  Seriously, you can make almost anything tastier with those two ingredients! I add pickled lemons (diced) to my favorite pizza recipe, and when I roast cauliflower in the winter, I add diced olives and lemons and a smidge of hard cheese as soon as it comes out of the oven. So, so good!  Next time I make panzanella, I’m going to add lemons, too.

There are lots of recipes out there, and they are so easy to make, that it is worth it to pickle a little sunshine!  Let me know if you do and how you use your lemons, will you?

Last Thursday I ventured to Atlanta, Georgia, for the big composition conference, where I presented an endlessly fascinating paper about contingent faculty and our role in creating a shared vision for a composition program. The presentation went just fine, although it wasn’t my best moment of public speaking.

In fact, I was more proud that I packed for three days and two nights in two very small carry-on bags. I believe I have officially become a savvy (and perhaps minimalist?) traveler. Pictured to the left is my Fourmi S Un Apres Midi de Chien bag, purchased in my favorite (now defunct) boutique in Albuquerque, circa 2004 (also, that is a fantastic deal on the site to which I linked.  This bag can be stuff insouciantly. I recommend it!). In it I packed my one crochet project (see how disciplined I am! Only one project!), my iPhone/earbuds, wallet (I like the Sutton Skinny), a folder of papers to grade, my moleskine journal, my iPad (I’ll tell you all about it another day.  In a word? LOVE!), my wifi keyboard in its clever case, an orange, three Cliff bars, a few tissues, two of my new favorite pens, and a small ziplock bag with my liquid toiletries.  That is a LOT of stuff in one bag, and it wasn’t even close to jam packed.

My clothes for the weekend were in the sweet, tiny Floto Imports Venezia Mini. I’ve loved every bag from Floto, but up until this trip, Venezia Mini has been my least favorite. I wish I’d gotten it in another color; the lack of interior pockets hasn’t suited me. I’ve just never used it much. In January, as I cleared out clothes and unused accessories for Project 333, I put it in the “to sell” pile, but Neal convinced me to keep it. I realized as I packed for my short trip that it is perfect (at least for warm-weather travel) to carry a weekend’s worth of clothes.  Want to know what I fit in it?

• Tomboy dress in blue (I have an older version, sans pockets and less of an a-line. The new version appeals to me more.)
• Print dress for presentation
• Far-too-large ditty bag (need to pare down the non-liquid toiletries and use a smaller bag)
• J.Crew flip flops in gold (bought on sale for far, far less than the website’s price) (Yikes! $50 flip flops???)
• Four pair knickers
• Bra (I’m a dirty girl and wear them more than once when I travel)

I wore my black Tomboy dress, bone cardi, and high black Fluevog sandals.  One I arrived in GA, I used the black bag as a handbag. Sure, I would have liked another outfit to change in to to go dancing, and a smaller bag would have been nice for bopping around, but for such a short trip, I only felt I overpacked by taking the blue dress. I was afraid I’d spill on the black one and not want to wear it to travel home in.  I never did put on the blue dress.

All of these items are part of my Phase 3 list, which has taken me a while to formulate. The research for and writing of the paper I presented occupied most of my free time for the last month or so.  Now that my time has freed up a bit, I’m excited to focus on my spring/early summer minimal, elegant wardrobe, which I’ll share with you next week!

In the mean time, Courtney recently posted about packing to travel, so if you’re interested in traveling with less, be sure to hop over to read her post.  How about you? Do you have any travel tips to share? How do you keep from over packing?