I am big on saving money, and I hate wasting extra energy if I can help it. I also happen to live in a small apartment that faces out onto an alley, and I know the owners of the building that faces my building. These serendipitous circumstances added up to me working with the owners of Venue222 to install a clothesline outside my apartment.
It was really easy, only cost me $15, and will save me $1.50 a load in dryer costs (raise your hand if you hate quarters!)
The Dents (who also gave me my kittens!) came over a few weeks ago and helped me (okay, Wade did most of the work) install. Naturally I documented the process.
Enjoy!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Dee Cee Weekend!
I love and miss my DAAP friends - even the ones that live less than 10 minutes away! With everyone so busy in the Real World with Big Girl Jobs, sometimes you just have to stop and take time out to smell the cherry blossoms.
My girl Sarah (the one who lives 10 minutes away) and I drove out to visit Corrie in Washington DC, where she's working at an awesome design firm and living the dream!
Check it out!
My girl Sarah (the one who lives 10 minutes away) and I drove out to visit Corrie in Washington DC, where she's working at an awesome design firm and living the dream!
Check it out!
this is Cincinnati.
this is Frederick, Maryland. They look very similar.
awesome beer bottle cuff links at Eastern Market.
ladyfriends looking all beautiful and urban.
great ad by Zipcar - when are you coming to Cincinnati?!
we stopped to smell the cherry blossoms.
and had fun photoshoots in the park (what?! we're designers!)
and ate awesome local food.
It was a really fun weekend. I love and miss my friends!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Dancin' Fool.
Just a little funny to bring a smile to your day.
(Click on the pic for my sweet moves!)
some sweet moves from the CAC Keith Haring opening a couple weeks ago. My buddy David DeWitt shot this video and edited it to showcase some happy happy kids jamming out :)
(Click on the pic for my sweet moves!)
some sweet moves from the CAC Keith Haring opening a couple weeks ago. My buddy David DeWitt shot this video and edited it to showcase some happy happy kids jamming out :)
Friday, March 11, 2011
You're a hipster. I'm a hipster. Let's be geeks instead.
Maybe it was all the chatter about Grammer's closing this week, but I feel suddenly deluged by the term "hipster." Don't know where it came from or how it became such a popular, deragatory term, but I'm tired of it. Don't believe the hype. We've all got a little hipster inside us (even Disney!)... at least I know I do. I don't know when it suddenly became popular to hate and label "hipsters", or why the subject draws so much contempt.
I've embraced my hipster-ness, for the most part. I listen to obscure bands, I live in a tiny apartment downtown and ride my bike everywhere, I love design and have a unique style... yeah. I'm pretty freakin' hipster, and okay with it.
However, there is something divisive about being a true hipster, and it's something that often grinds my gears. I think the thing that people really, truly hate about this stereotype is the arrogant attitude, the presumptiousness and sense of indifference and irony that seems to go along with the label.
I'm cooler than you because my interests are SO obscure, SO unique. It's nothing more than another way to separate and divide, to stand out, and to be kind of an asshole about it.
However, at my core, I like to think of myself as more of a geek than a hipster. The biggest difference?
Geeks get excited.
Isn't that where the term "geeking out" came from? I love learning more about the world around me and sharing it with everyone I know. My Google Reader and sites like Fast Company and BoingBoing keep me up to date on everything from the hottest new tech concepts to the next hilarious viral video sweeping across the internet.
My enthusiasm travels off-line as well. If there is a chance for me to capture the joy of a small detail or moment as I'm going through life, I'm going to take notice and share it with the world, or at least my immediate circle of friends.
So, here's my proposal. This is 2011. The reign of the hipster is over. Let's get over ourselves, our obscure bands, our "cooler-than-thou" attitudes, and embrace our inner geeks. Let's get super excited about the little things, and open up to the people around us, instead of limiting and staying in our silly cliques of ironic hipness. Let's evolve...
Be an early adopter... you can say you did it before it went mainstream.
I've embraced my hipster-ness, for the most part. I listen to obscure bands, I live in a tiny apartment downtown and ride my bike everywhere, I love design and have a unique style... yeah. I'm pretty freakin' hipster, and okay with it.
okay, okay, not my usual hairstyle... but look at that freakin' hipster!(from 2007)
However, there is something divisive about being a true hipster, and it's something that often grinds my gears. I think the thing that people really, truly hate about this stereotype is the arrogant attitude, the presumptiousness and sense of indifference and irony that seems to go along with the label.
I'm cooler than you because my interests are SO obscure, SO unique. It's nothing more than another way to separate and divide, to stand out, and to be kind of an asshole about it.
However, at my core, I like to think of myself as more of a geek than a hipster. The biggest difference?
Geeks get excited.
Isn't that where the term "geeking out" came from? I love learning more about the world around me and sharing it with everyone I know. My Google Reader and sites like Fast Company and BoingBoing keep me up to date on everything from the hottest new tech concepts to the next hilarious viral video sweeping across the internet.
My enthusiasm travels off-line as well. If there is a chance for me to capture the joy of a small detail or moment as I'm going through life, I'm going to take notice and share it with the world, or at least my immediate circle of friends.
So, here's my proposal. This is 2011. The reign of the hipster is over. Let's get over ourselves, our obscure bands, our "cooler-than-thou" attitudes, and embrace our inner geeks. Let's get super excited about the little things, and open up to the people around us, instead of limiting and staying in our silly cliques of ironic hipness. Let's evolve...
Be an early adopter... you can say you did it before it went mainstream.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Seitan isn't Satan, but tofu sure is.
So I'm over halfway through my meat-free February!! It has been an uphill battle... I find myself craving things I don't normally crave - BBQ wings for example - but I've had some fun with new recipes and trying new things.
I gave tofu one shot out to eat last week, and it was terrible. I've had it prepared well before (namely at Thai Express in Clifton) - when they saute the tofu in a sauce so it's crispy and flavorful... but not so the last time I had it (at a different Thai restaurant that will remain nameless. There's gotta be better options than tofu! YUCK!
So my main new discovery has been this seitan stuff. Seitan is wheat gluten - wheat flour is rinsed until all the starch dissolves and what's left is this elastic mass that has a similar texture to ground beef. I got some to try at Park+Vine, and it worked out pretty well. I crumbled it and sauteed in in oil, and it was good both in a salad and later as a "phony coney" - cranberry walnut bread (locally made, also from P+V), seitan and cheddar cheese melted in the toaster oven. YUM.
(pics: Upton's Naturals Seitan and spinach salad with raspberries, oranges, honey sesame sticks and seitan)
I've also had good success with beans. For Super Bowl Sunday I made a really fantastic black bean and sweet potato chili adapted from Serious Eats (using Arrogant Bastard Ale), and tonight for dinner I just made the best freakin' black bean burgers of probably ever. Yes, seriously. Ever.
Homemade Black Bean Veggie Burgers
1 16 oz can black beans, rinsed and dried
1 8 oz can chopped carrots, rinsed and dried
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
4 TBS minced garlic
1/4 cup flax seeds (gotta get that protein!)
1 egg
3/4 cup Italian seasoned croutons, smashed
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
seasonings to taste: salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, cumin, garam masala
1. drain and rinse the beans and carrots, and squish them with a fork in a bowl until they're all mushed.
2. loosely chop the onion and red pepper with a knife, put the pieces into your food processor with the garlic and flax seed. (10 points if your food processor is with the immersion blender like mine). Chop it up until it's really fine, then strain out most of the liquid through a mesh colander or one with small holes.
3. Combine the pureed vegetable mixture into the bean bowl. Add egg, croutons and bread crumbs. Add the spices a little at a time until the mix tastes good. Stir to combine - the mixture should be easy to work with and not crazy sticky - if it is, add more bread crumbs. Use your hands, you know you want to.
I gave tofu one shot out to eat last week, and it was terrible. I've had it prepared well before (namely at Thai Express in Clifton) - when they saute the tofu in a sauce so it's crispy and flavorful... but not so the last time I had it (at a different Thai restaurant that will remain nameless. There's gotta be better options than tofu! YUCK!
So my main new discovery has been this seitan stuff. Seitan is wheat gluten - wheat flour is rinsed until all the starch dissolves and what's left is this elastic mass that has a similar texture to ground beef. I got some to try at Park+Vine, and it worked out pretty well. I crumbled it and sauteed in in oil, and it was good both in a salad and later as a "phony coney" - cranberry walnut bread (locally made, also from P+V), seitan and cheddar cheese melted in the toaster oven. YUM. (pics: Upton's Naturals Seitan and spinach salad with raspberries, oranges, honey sesame sticks and seitan)
I've also had good success with beans. For Super Bowl Sunday I made a really fantastic black bean and sweet potato chili adapted from Serious Eats (using Arrogant Bastard Ale), and tonight for dinner I just made the best freakin' black bean burgers of probably ever. Yes, seriously. Ever.
See? They were fantastic.
1 16 oz can black beans, rinsed and dried
1 8 oz can chopped carrots, rinsed and dried
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
4 TBS minced garlic
1/4 cup flax seeds (gotta get that protein!)
1 egg
3/4 cup Italian seasoned croutons, smashed
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
seasonings to taste: salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, cumin, garam masala
2. loosely chop the onion and red pepper with a knife, put the pieces into your food processor with the garlic and flax seed. (10 points if your food processor is with the immersion blender like mine). Chop it up until it's really fine, then strain out most of the liquid through a mesh colander or one with small holes.
3. Combine the pureed vegetable mixture into the bean bowl. Add egg, croutons and bread crumbs. Add the spices a little at a time until the mix tastes good. Stir to combine - the mixture should be easy to work with and not crazy sticky - if it is, add more bread crumbs. Use your hands, you know you want to.
4. Form into patties whatever size you like - I made 3 big ones and 4 sliders and some meatballs for later this week. It makes a good amount of food - probably enough for 3 or 4 guys. Bake the patties on a lightly greased cookie sheet at 375 for 15-20 minutes. Add a little mozzarella cheese 3 minutes before removing.
I served my sliders on toast with mango chutney and brown mustard.
No fat, all protein and vegetables and wonderfulness - and it was REALLY filling. Enjoy!!
Friday, February 11, 2011
My Mom is Awesome.
Not just pancakes, though, a special recipe from scratch.
And not just from scratch pancakes, but pancakes shaped into various shapes - initials, cats, christmas trees, flowers... you name it.
This is how us Kesslers operate: above and beyond. There is always a way.
So anyway, she came to visit me about a month ago while I was (and still am) in the throes of the Very Cold Apartment experience. And she decided I needed curtains for my many windows (7 windows for a 3 room apartment! Amazing... and cold.)
Not just curtains, though... handmade curtains.
And not just handmade curtains, but curtains with black out fabric attached, in order to block light and retain what little heat my poor pad may have.
So she took measurements, we figured out the colors (hey, that interior design degree still comes in handy sometimes!) and two weeks later, hey, presto! She also made a futon and ottoman cover. And some pillow covers. And they all look AWESOME.
Kitchen
Living room
Bedroom
Futon/Ottoman cover.
Hey... they seem to like it!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Meat-Free February
My friends Janice and Andy did a vegetarian diet for the month of January, and it got me thinking. I don't eat much meat to begin with - the occasional slice of bacon/chicken broth to flavor my soups, shrimp, sushi and sometimes burgers when I go out to eat. People often ask me if I'm vegetarian and I say, "I eat what I want!" It makes them laugh, but it's true. I often eat vegetarian meals because they're tasty (and cheap!), but I will answer the siren song of a delicious burger without hesitation.
But we all know how good it is for you, for the planet, for humanity, for the future, to cut back on meat consumption. So I'm going to try it.
I have trouble sticking to resolutions, mainly due to forgetfulness and lack of interest. So I'm thinking I will try not eating meat for the month of February. It's only 28 days, and it will be fun finding new recipes to try out. Of course I'm taking you with me ;)
Yesterday I kicked off my meatless February with a grilled goat cheese and spinach (and Grippo's BBQ chips) sandwich from Tom + Chee. My friend Shannon gave me a recipe for that night's dinner - she calls them "Nom Wraps": tortillas with cream cheese, spinach, sauteed red onion, roasted butternut squash, and sliced green pepper.
They were REALLY nom!! Thanks lady!
But we all know how good it is for you, for the planet, for humanity, for the future, to cut back on meat consumption. So I'm going to try it.
I have trouble sticking to resolutions, mainly due to forgetfulness and lack of interest. So I'm thinking I will try not eating meat for the month of February. It's only 28 days, and it will be fun finding new recipes to try out. Of course I'm taking you with me ;)
Yesterday I kicked off my meatless February with a grilled goat cheese and spinach (and Grippo's BBQ chips) sandwich from Tom + Chee. My friend Shannon gave me a recipe for that night's dinner - she calls them "Nom Wraps": tortillas with cream cheese, spinach, sauteed red onion, roasted butternut squash, and sliced green pepper.
They were REALLY nom!! Thanks lady!
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