Super-Simple Pumpkin Soup
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Quick Fix: Entryway Update
I spent a decent percentage of this weekend in exactly this position.
One project I've been putting off (and off and off) has been repainting the very chipped wood entryway to our house, partially because when I brought in a contractor to look at our floors he told me that they were so old and worn that they wouldn't stand up to the kind of sanding you'd need to do to get a really fresh-looking paint job (that's why we ended up replacing the floors in our living room entirely, leaving this spot in the entryway alone because it wasn't in quiiite as bad shape)...and partially because I couldn't figure out a multi-hour period during which I'd be able to prevent all the small creatures in our house from making adorable little permanent track-marks across the floors before they dried.
But then I realized: 1) I don't really care if the entryway looks perfect; I'd just like it to look better, and 2) When it comes to small creatures and DIY projects, there really is no good time. So on Friday night we got our son into bed, made sure our dogs looked reasonably passed-out on the couch, and broke out the black gloss.
Oh, The Shame
Remember when I got a bread machine, and I was all excited about it, and then discovered that I was completely incapable of creating anything that resembled an actual loaf of bread that you might actually eat? It's because 1) even though I know from years and years and years of experience that you really do have to be precise when baking, I hate that, and 2) I'm lazy and those measuring cups are on a very high-up shelf and eh.
Anyway, I posted about my bread mishaps and a reader sent me her family's recipe, assuring me that it was foolproof. And it was! So I started making it pretty much every time we had company mostly because it was so fun to just casually mention "Oh, yeah, made that from scratch" while depositing a big loaf of warm bread on the table, and then wait for the impressed back-pats to pour in (when you've had the number of baking disasters I have, you'll take all the impressed back-pats you can get).
Well, I haven't baked in awhile - it's just not a thing I do a ton of during the summer months - and apparently this is one of those "use it or lose it situations."
Top Ten Yard Sale Tips & Tricks
Even I have to agree that the extent to which I have been excited about having a yard sale for years - years! - is a little bizarre. It significantly pre-dated ownership of an actual yard in which to have said sale in; I started sequestering items away in boxes marked "YARD SALE" about ten months prior to our move to the 'burbs. Which meant both that I created a very annoying storage situation in an apartment that was already more than slightly lacking in that department...and also that I had a lot of stuff to sell when the big day officially arrived.
Why all this excitement? Some combination of the following:
1. It lets you play out the fantasy of owning a boutique (which is a fantasy that I have, although I'm aware that the reality of boutique-ownership is likely not nearly as idyllic as the picture I have in my head);
On Those Extra-Busy Mornings
If you take a look inside this month’s InStyle, you’ll see a handful of my favorite tips for extra-busy mornings (which is all of them, lately). I cut corners in lots of ways: I lay out a pair of leggings and a big sweater for myself to put on first thing when I wake up so that I don’t have to go digging around for something to wear while I walk the dogs; I get my son dressed right away so that I don’t have to tote him up and down the stairs over and over and over again; I make the bed and brush my teeth while the shower heats up (which can take awhile in a house that was built over a century ago).
One thing that I do not cut corners on is breakfast. My son literally starts asking for something to eat the second that his eyes open (my daily alarm clock consists of the words “MAMA! ORANGE JUICE!”)…and I think this might be an inherited trait, because if I do not eat semi-immediately and fairly well, I turn into a hyena. (I actually disagree with this statement – I think I am lovely and sunny in the mornings whether I’ve eaten breakfast or not, but Kendrick insists that it’s accurate, so there you go.)
A few months ago, Kendrick came home from the supermarket with Pepperidge Farm Swirl bread, and: delicious. From the moment of his discovery it’s been eaten pretty much daily by everyone in my family - I stockpile it in the freezer and just defrost a loaf whenever we run low, because I am that disinterested in ever running out. It’s just a tiiiiny bit sweet, and easily lends itself to a whole bunch of different protein-inclusive toppings that make everyone in the family happy as breakfast-eating clams.
