Yep, A Book Giveaway

Maybe it’s the smell of spring in the air, or maybe it’s that I’m sick of all the clutter around the house, but I just realized I have too many books. I never thought I’d say that. I love books. I love book stores. Every time I travel I have to hit the local independent bookstores, even though I know that 99% of the books they carry will be the same ones I can buy at the local independent stores close to my house. But still, I drag Husband or friends through Strands or the Tattered Cover every time. And I buy a book. And the cool thing is that I remember where I bought that book, because it was an experience and not just a purchase. But the other day, after I caught Daughter pulling books off the lowest shelf, I realized that there are just too many. It will feel good to have some white space on my book shelves. It will be nice not to have the stack of books next to my bed fall over every night when I add one to the pile. It will be nice to be able to see all the titles at once, instead of sliding the piles back and forth to see what I haven’t read yet. And believe me, it’s a lot.

So, I think I’ll start giving some books away. Certainly not too many of them, and certainly not the books I bought on my travels, or those I haven’t read. Or those I treasure, like Watership Down or Stones from the River. But the books that have some life in them, that need a good home. They can be yours. And then there will be some breathing room on my shelves. Ahhhhh….

Leave a comment or send me an email (jenn (dot) nienaber (at) gmail (dot) com) and we’ll figure out a good match.

Another Idea

I found myself browsing through the JCrew website yesterday, no idea why, I never shop there, and I found this great T-shirt. Even on sale the thing was $30. $30 for a t-shirt?!? But I thought it was really cute, or could actually be cuter if I could change the color of the flowers and move them around a bit. And then I started thinking. Uh oh, I could make this! Why not? Get an inexpensive T-shirt from Ragstock and some lightweight fabric and use the same technique I used on Daughter’s elephant shirt. Why not?  Any of you sewing pros have any advice? I’ll show it to you just as soon as I get it done. Off I go to find a shirt and some fabric. Adios!

My own Happiness Project

I started reading The Happiness Project this weekend. (And yes, that is a chocolate covered peanut butter rice krispie bar on top of the book.) And even though I’m only on the second chapter, I really like what she’s saying. The author, a lawyer and non-fiction biographer, starts by writing her own Twelve Commandments and Secrets of Adulthood. A number of them I can totally relate to, such as “Enjoy the process” and “Lighten up.” Also “You don’t have to be good at everything” and “It’s okay to ask for help.”

I’m far from creating my own lists, but a few things I’ve told myself I’ll try to do are to stop swearing while the car in front of me either turns right from the left lane or straddles the lane, and to stop honking. I also learned this weekend that it’s okay to ask for help. On Friday I woke up with either one bad case of food poisoning or a stomach bug. I’ll spare you the details, but I asked my Mother-in-Law to drive 50 miles each way to watch Daughter for the day. She loved it, I got some much needed rest.

This will be an ongoing project. I hope to keep you updated as I make my way through the book. But here’s a quick preview, Chapter one is all about Boosting Energy and Clearing Space. I made it to the club today AND cleaned out my sock drawer. More soon!

Wednesday Walk: Self Portrait

It’s finally March and the sun is here. Daughter and I walked during our errands today. Coat unzipped, mittens in the pocket. Ahhh….

Elephant T-shirt

Haven’t you always wanted a T-shirt with an Elephant on it? Better yet, a Pink T-shirt with a stripped elephant? Personally, I haven’t, but I really wanted Daughter to have one. So I made one. And it only took about 15 minutes.

I started by finding an outline of an elephant.  You can draw one or find one online. I traced the reverse image of my elephant on the paper side of Appli-Kay Wonder. (this stuff is amazing), then I ironed it to the wrong side of the stripped fabric. Once the fabric was fused to the wonder material, I trimmed the design and removed the protective paper, which exposed the sticky side. I stuck the little stripped elephant to the T-shirt and sewed a thick stitch around the whole shape.

See? Easy. I can’t wait to make more T-shirts for her. Up next? Probably a giraffe. I just love giraffes.

Nature Walk

Husband and I brought little dog on a walk this weekend and were lucky enough to see this majestic creature soaring above us. We saw three more as we walked away.  Isn’t he amazing?

Fork the Fire Benefit

A couple weeks ago one of our favorite restaurants, Heidi’s, was destroyed by a fire. Blackbird, another small, locally owned restaurant next door was also destroyed. And now, or actually on March 14, over 55 restaurants are coming together to raise money to help Heidi’s and Blackbirds, in the “Fork the Fire” Benefit. Because that’s what neighbors do. It’s a beautiful thing. We’re planning to hit one of these restaurants on the 14th, will you?

If you want to read more about Heidi’s, here’s a link to the post I wrote last year. Yum.

Thai-Style Pork Stew

Speaking of happiness…. throw this recipe (Thai Style Pork Stew) into your crock pot, put a bottle of wine in the fridge to chill and enjoy a fabulous, healthy meal 8 hours later. Happy.

Happiness

I’ve been hearing a lot about the Happiness Project. And while I consider myself a pretty happy person, it’s still on my list next time I get a Border’s coupon. Everyone can use a little more happy time, right? But then I ran into this article from an old(er) copy of New York magazine: 50 Steps to Simple Happiness. It’s full of quick, easy things one can do. I noticed a lot of them involve working out, which always makes me feel better. But there are others, like:

2. “Make your bed. Go figure, but outer order contributes to inner calm. Especially if you’re living in a small space—but even if you’re living in a gigantic loft. Start each day with a concrete, albeit tiny (and therefore manageable!), accomplishment.” —Gretchen Rubin, Author, The Happiness Project

and:

12. If you see a parking cop working his or her way up the street, put a quarter into someone’s expired meter.

and:

16. “Eat one ounce of dark chocolate a day. It’s the new superfood.” —Dr. Jeffrey Morrison, Integrative Medicine and Nutrition.
Check it out. We could all use a little more happiness, right?

Best. Soup. Ever.

I didn’t like what I brought to work for lunch the other day. Fortunately, I have one of the Twin Cities best deli’s just one flight of stairs away from my desk. And fortunately (again) for me, they happened to be serving a new soup, Spicy Tomato with Fennel and Pepperocini. I love tomato soup. I love spicy food. I really love spicy tomato soup. So I ordered a cup, went back upstairs, and enjoyed a really amazing, fabulous cup of soup. So fabulous, that I told husband about it. And I thought about it all night. And the next morning, when I went down to Bewiched for breakfast (they have killer scones, as well) I noticed they were serving the Spicy Tomato soup. Again. Really?

This soup was spicy. Probably too spicy for some, perfect spicy for me. There were slices of the hot pepper among the thick pureed tomatoey goodness. There’s no dairy, so it’s low-fast as well. And so darn yummy!

Honestly, I wanted the recipe. But I know they wouldn’t share that. But could I get more soup? Well, yes. I bought two quarts. Yep, two quarts. We had one for dinner, the others in the freezer. For a later date. Probably tomorrow.