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Crafts for the Uncrafty

The Great Pirate Party

October 20, 2015
what to wear for a pirate party

Alright, so I went into this birthday a little nervous. Because talk about a high bar; Goldie's party in August was silly-fancy. (Seriously: as much as I loved it, it was obbbbbviously a bit much for a one-year-old, and I felt the need to explain to our guests - many of whom haven't known me for long enough to be aware that my children's parties have historically included pathetically lopsided cakes rather than expertly crafted mini-bundts - that I was responsible for exactly none of it). Despite my awareness that what kids need to be happy is the permission to eat ice cream and run around like lunatics (and really not a whole lot else), I wanted to make sure that Indy's fourth birthday (!! cannot stand it) felt special, too...while still being manageable to plan and set up, because we just wrapped up a whole lot of travel and are more than a little busy at the moment.

We came up with the pirate theme (which I later adjusted slightly into a Goonies theme just because everybody loves that movie, Indy included - even if he doesn't know it yet) largely based on the fact that Indy bought a pirate sword at the Renaissance Faire we went to a few weeks ago. Slightly random or no, it ended up being a really cool theme, and the party was easy to organize (whew), relatively inexpensive (win), and fun for both kids and their parents (double win).

The Food: Oh, Trader Joe's, I love you so much. I bought literally everything (mac and cheese balls, a selection of pizzas, lemon squares, brownie bites, and pumpkin cookies) from the store and just heated up whatever needed heating half an hour before our guests arrived. For the cake, Indy decided that he wanted a Ladybug cake (go figure). Fine by me; Baskin Robbins does ladybugs very nicely.

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ENTREES

Lentil “Bolognese”

October 19, 2015
how to make lentil bolognese

I now grow my own basil and make meatless sauces. Oh California, what have you done to me?

A couple of weeks ago a vegetarian friend of mine came to stay with us for a few days, and I was at a total loss for what to cook. So often, it seems like vegetarians just kind of get handed a side dish "that's totally hearty enough to double as an entree!" and I felt...I don't know, like I wanted our guest to feel a little more special. Except over the past couple of months I've grown so reliant on my go-to system of throwing some meat on the grill, tossing a salad and calling it a day that I couldn't for the life of me think of anything to make her. (I ended up not actually doing that badly; I made cool pizzas and a really delicious grain-vegetable-egg combo and such, but still: we're talking about a limited repertoire.)

This would have been a really good solution. Because it's not only vegetarian, it's also really healthy (full of vegetables and protein) and REALLY good. Like, as good as "real" (meaning meat-containing) bolognese. Maybe even better. No joke. It's not going to trick your tastebuds - it tastes like it's own thing, not like traditional bolognese - but it's super flavorful and hearty without being heavy. I like it so much that I prepared each serving with way more sauce than pasta, because it's so good that it's not even as much of a dressing for pasta as it is a really delicious stew.

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Decor

Our Front Yard: Before And After (A Xeriscaped Makeover)

October 16, 2015
yard with dead trees

Check out that lush, vibrant landscape.

Oooooh was our front yard ever not good. My favorite part was the enormous potted (and dead) tree tethered to the roof to prevent it from dropping straight to the ground. In second place was the red mulch surrounding the enormous (also dead) bush next to my garage.

Enter: a xeriscaper I found on Thumbtack. What is xeriscaping, you ask? Excellent question; I didn't know, either. Basically, it means taking out plants that need bunches of water and replacing them with ones that are drought-resistant, thereby lowering or eliminating entirely the amount of supplemental watering that your yard requires. It's also (in my opinion) very pretty.

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Decor

The Sad, Sad Garage

October 5, 2015

This may be the most beautiful photo I have ever posted on RG.

When we were looking for a house, we made a wishlist of sorts - the kinds of elements that we were hoping to find, but could theoretically live without if the house checked off our Big Stuff (good school district, a playroom/office area, within reasonable commuting distance to Kendrick's office, etc).

Our wishlist included things like exposed beams, an open floor plan, a nice outdoor space, and some kind of bonus area where Kendrick would be able to set up his recording equipment (which is big and involves lots of wires, hence the problem with setting it up in, say, a corner of the living room). The latter is a tricky one, because we were really spoiled at our last house: the previous owners had turned our garage into a sort of studio space, so he just got that whole area to do whatever he wanted with. Here, not so much: every room in our place is small, and there's just nowhere for all that equipment to go.

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