Under The Covers

There are two things to note here.

First: we own two duvets – one for us and one for guests. The guest duvet is newer, and the down stays evenly distributed. Our duvet is a zillion years old, and the down always ends up at the foot of the bed. At some point it struck me that we should try swapping them out and putting the guest duvet on our bed and use our ancient one for guests when we have them. Brilliant! And even more brilliant, instead of putting the ancient duvet away in the trunk like I should have, I put it on the couch and started using it in place of the throw blanket that usually keeps me warm through the winter. I call it my white cloud of warmth, and I love it. It’s giant and I get all tangled up in it and it keeps me cuh-razy warm.

Second: Barley has taken to not just curling up in my lap, but curling up in my lap…under the blanket. I’m pretty sure that I’ve talked here about how Pete’s butt gives off crazy amounts of heat. Barley, curled up under a blanket, is like Pete’s butt times ten. He is like a little ball of fire!!! Sometimes when he curls up on top of me under the blanket I end up having to untuck from the blanket to let cool air in.

And now you know all about the white cloud of warmth, which is what you is over top of Barley in the photo above. My legs are in the bottom right of the photo – this time he was curled up against my leg instead of on top of me, which is much nicer than having a little ball of fire on top of you.

As Seen In Glamour Magazine

Look! It’s me! In my awesome new winter coat! In the freezing cold! So this coat...I had a few requirements for a new coat: doesn’t look like a sleeping bag, has a hood, not black/grey/navy, at least knee-length. And warm. This one fits the bill, and I managed to get it on sale, which was also nice. There was a bit of a debacle getting UPS to deliver it, as it was meant to be redelivered the same day we had a blizzard. I guess for UPS, that means that it’s okay to take the next six days to claim “emergency weather conditions” and not redelivery.

Also, I love my new camera. I used to take self portraits (and force Pete into them) all the time pre-DSLR, but since the lens that is on my DSLR 95% of the time is the equivalent of a 75mm, it’s a bit hard to get a self portrait at arms length. And so now that I have this new point and shoot you can all look forward to seeing my mug more often. ;)

1 Comment

by Sarah G on February 10, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in self portraits

Posted by Sarah G on February 10, 2011

https://mymonotonouslife.com/2011/02/10/as-seen-in-glamour-magazine/

Ready For My Close Up

Barley cat was lying on my lap, and I was playing with my new camera….well, he got curious, and this is the outcome. :)

1 Comment

by Sarah G on February 8, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in barley

Posted by Sarah G on February 8, 2011

https://mymonotonouslife.com/2011/02/08/ready-for-my-close-up/

Superbowl Beef Stew

It’s been five weeks since I put “Cook in the crock pot at least once a week” on my Winter To Do List…and I’m all over it! On average, at least. Every recipe I’ve used has been from Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Recipes For Two, although I do have a recipe of Lana’s on the books for next weekend. So far there have been two batches of delicious risotto, chili, butternut squash soup, and today it’s beef stew.

When I first put this on my to do list, I envisioned it being totally different than it has been. In my head I was going to toss ingredients quickly into the crock before heading to work and come home to a delicious meal. In the end, I’ve made all of these things on the weekend or when I was working from home in the crappy weather, so I didn’t start any of them in the crock until lunchtime at the earliest. I’d love to find some recipes where there’s less prep (browning of meat, sauteing of onions, etc…) so I can actually throw stuff in the crock in 10 minutes or less and then head to work, but I’m also fine with how things have been working out.

What’s your favorite crock pot recipe? Don’t be greedy, share!

2 Comments

by Sarah G on February 6, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in A List: Winter 2011, food

Posted by Sarah G on February 6, 2011

https://mymonotonouslife.com/2011/02/06/superbowl-beef-stew/

10 on Tuesday

1. Before we really get rolling: a confession. I started this list of 10 last Tuesday, but I haven’t been carrying my camera often (see below), so I didn’t have a picture until today.

2. It’s been a few weeks since I posted my Winter To Do List, and I already missed one week of using the crock pot. I’m going to give myself a pass – if I average once/week I’m okay with it. I’ve been using the recipes from Not Your Mothers Slow Cooker Recipes for Two with a lot of success. Risotto without an hour of standing and stirring at the stove? Yes please!

3. As far as progress on my other To Do List items go, there has been little. I do now have recommendations for a Vietnamese restaurant (thanks to my Vietnamese coworker) to try, and have found friends who are interested in accompanying me for ice skating, the Americas Wing at the MFA, and the Freedom Trail. Time to start picking dates!

4. I went back to the gym last week for only the second time this month. My knees were not happy with me for it. On the bright side, I finally figured out a routine I feel comfortable with (gym after work, change into dry/warm sweats for the T ride, and shower at home) and sorted out how to entertain myself while I’m there. There are only two TVs visible from the cardio equipment and they usually have on ESPN or MSNBC. Stocks and sports – probably the two things I am least interested in watching! The last season of Mad Men, though? That I’m very happy to watch, even if it’s on my little two-ish inch iPod screen.

5. The gym going is great, but it is also not-so-great in that it’s the primary reason I haven’t been carrying my camera. Once I pack my gym gear into my bag, there’s no room left for my camera. The bright side of this is that it has confirmed my desire to buy a smaller point and shoot, so I’ve been reading a lot of reviews over the past week. I didn’t ever think I would be in the market for a point and shoot again, but it turns out that having a pocket-size (or close to pocket-size) point and shoot means I take a whole lot more pictures. I sat down at the beginning of January to put together my annual “Year in the Life of Sarah and Pete” photo book and realized that I didn’t take pictures of our events and outings last year. I took plenty of pictures for myself, but they aren’t pictures that in any way represent what Pete and I actually did last year. I got tired of lugging around my DSLR with the heavier of my lenses, which also happens to be the most versatile but is least often actually on my camera. Hopefully I can make a camera decision soon and remedy this!

6. I have been reading a lot lately, using the Kindle App on my phone. I always have my phone with me, so I end up reading for a few minutes here and there while I’m waiting in line for my Starbucks or for the elevator, and reading in tight spots (like on the T at rush hour) is much easier. The catch is that I hate to cough up more than five dollars for an electronic book. It’s a file! The production costs can’t be that high. Why should I pay as much, or even more, than it would cost me to buy the same physical book?! This has lead to my reading a lot of classics – books that fall under public domain – which are available for free or super cheap (similar to the Librivox audio books). Some of them I remember reading when I was younger, and all of them have been fun and refreshing reading. I knocked out four of the eight Anne of Green Gables books before Christmas, got quickly sucked into The Secret Garden after New Years, and most recently I’ve settled quickly into the fun of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

7. It’s been such a snowy winter (and I love it, I’m sorry for everyone that doesn’t, but snow is what makes the freezing cold winters worth it in my mind!) that my boots have been getting daily wear more or less since I got back from Virginia after Christmas. My poor boots…on Saturday the pull tab on one of the zippers came right off in my hand when I was putting them on. It’s been replaced with a paperclip, which doesn’t seem to be holding up very well. Oops! Maybe it was the result of rust/whatever after a certain wintery romp a while back, or maybe it was just time – I think this is their fifth New England winter, after all.

8. Speaking of last Saturday, Pete and I spent most of our day at the movies. We saw both True Grit and The Fighter, and they were both really good. You should go see them. Also, going to the movies twice in one day is crazy fun.

9. Historically I’ve never had a problem sleeping. Pete jokes that I’m out the second my head hits the pillow. Lately, this has not been so true. For about the last month, there has been at least one night each week where I just can’t fall asleep, so I move to the couch and watch TV until I’m sleepy enough to go back to bed. It appears as though 4am is the magic falling asleep time on these night. This has lead to me working my way very quickly through Brothers & Sisters (from the start) on Netflix Instant. Rob Lowe? He’s awfully attractive.

10. These late nights on the couch have lead to a lot of time cuddling with Barley. The second I give up on sleeping and come out of the bedroom, he’s glued to me. And his favorite place to be is not just curled up on top of me, but under the blanket with me. Where he does his best impression of a fire ball, because he gives off a whole lot of heat for such a little guy!!!

My Monotonous Life