Triple Bunk?

It's been such a nightmare trying to find a solid wood, nice looking, not-too-big bed for Bella. She's been sleeping in a toddler bed since she was 18 months old and it's definitely time for an upgrade.

And I think we've found a company that has just what we're looking for: Flexa. Their motto is "Because Children Grow" and they seem to realize that kids grow so it's a good idea to invest in a bed that will grow with them. I think this is the one we are going to get. It's slim, simple, and modern (and not too expensive).

Bella keeps asking for a bunk bed (to which we reply: no way!). If she has a sibling (ever? eventually?) we'll revisit it, since our house is teeeny, but for now we're standing firm. We'll get a trundle for the bed instead.

But while I was looking though the site, I came upon this:

A triple bunk bed! Can you imagine? There's no way I'd ever be in that middle bunk - I get freaked out enough by the bottom bunk (what if there's an earthquake and the bunk collapses??).

I think we'll stay low to the ground for now.

What bed did you get for your child when they were ready to upgrade to a twin?

6 months later...

Well, where the heck have I been?!?!

I've let this site lapse, and I'm sorry. I've been posting frequently over at Peanut Free Mama, but unless you or someone you love has a peanut allergy, then you probably wont find much of interest over there.

But I'm back and ready to fill this blog with my inspirations, sites I like, links I want to remember.

So here goes.

I'm lusting after new chairs for our house. These are some of them:

The Marais AC Chair from DWR:
For our backyard.


The Sally Stool from Target:
For Bella's room maybe, or just sitting around the house? I just love how cute these are. And orange is a favorite color of mine lately.

I Want This...

There must be something in the water. I've been craving all these modern pieces of furniture. Anyone who knows me will wonder if this chair will 'fit' into my home. I can't help it though. I must have 6 for my dining table. Hello, um, Santa?

In My Mind Right Now...

From DWR

• Eames Molded Armchair
• Eames Molded Plastic Rocker (i swear the second i find out i'm pregnant i'm buying one of these)
  

From CB2:

• fotofalls ornament tree
• hippie arm chair

From West Elm

• silver parsons table (it would match my new computer - he he)
  

Smith and Hawken

• glass cloches

NapaStyle

• Benvenuto door mat
• Pauchard step stool
  

Wishing I lived in Portland after finding this site.

Wishing my copy of the Darjeeling Limited soundtrack would arrive already.

And i know i am putting the cart before the horse, but isn't this bassinet just the cutest?

Latest Purchase

Hot Chocolate Cups from Crate and Barrel.



Glossy inside. Matte finish outside. Fits in my Tassimo machine.

So cute. For coffee (grownups) or hot chocolate (bella).

New Semi-Obsession

Mark and I had a romantic evening in SF this week (including a great meal). We were right around the corner from a Borders, so we stopped in to peruse the mags. And I found this:

Atomic Ranch. A magazine all about midcentury marvels. So sleek. So hip. So not me. But I am loving the landscaping ideas.

Must...resist...urge...to...have...atomic...ranch...house.

This is how we plan our meals...

A few of the sites I read have talked about how they go about planning their meals so they don't feel like their only option each night is takeout (fresh or leftover), pasta with jarred sauce, or cereal. The NYTimes had an article about this type of thing last week, but I didn't like it enough to archive it. Check it out for yourself (hopefully it will still be free)>

Here's what I do:

1. First I print out my menu planner sheet (warning: it's a PDF). I used to buy a pad of almost the same thing, but the company discontinued it. So, being the crafty bugger I am, I created one myself. I put in more than 7 meals because sometimes I have to plan 7+ meals in a week (for example, my aunt is coming for Sunday lunch, but I still have dinner to plan too).

2. I figure out what nights I know we're eating out either at restaurants or someone else's place (I like these nights) and mark those in the appropriate day/meal sections.

3. For the nights I know we'll be eating in, I decide what meals will be good each night. I factor in lunches (for example, Fridays at Bella's school are pizza day, so that's out for Friday night). I usually write my ideas in pencil. Sometimes I'll do the math and figure out that spaghetti and meatballs aren't good on those nights Bella doesn't get a bath (so sue me - my kid gets a bath every other night!). So sometimes I switch things around.

As I write down each meal, I write down the groceries that go along with it in the bulleted list below the menu. I usually group them by produce, meats, dairy, etc. I didn't label the planner with these tags because it was too limiting. Some weeks I bought more produce than household stuff and vice versa. I didn't want to be contained by the number of lines on my list! I also added a notes field. This is for anything you want, but I use it for things like reminders about Bella's school - last week she needed an empty egg carton, so a dozen eggs went on the list (as well as a Quiche for Wednesday night to use all those eggs).

4. And before I go shopping, after I've added all the other household stuff I'll need from the store (TP, bleach, etc), I do a quick scan in my pantry one last time to make sure that I really don't have a can of chicken stock in the pantry. I have a small house, so I take the space saving where I can get it.

And that's it. The menu is posted on the fridge for the week. I can tell Mark what's for dinner (so he doesn't have the same thing for lunch), and I don't stress out about what we're having each night.

Try it yourself. It works for me, it might just work for you.

What do you do?

My next post will have some of my favorite standbys for meals that everyone in my family eats. Stay tuned...

The Best Breakfast

2 slices of ciabatta, sliced on the diagonal

lightly toasted

slathered in butter

drizzled in honey.

bliss.

yum-o?

i've never been a dog person. just a cat person.

that is, until i started working with an incredible woman who loves her dog pico THIS MUCH. this dog is her child and she treats him as such - including being just as picky as a mom is (or in this day and age should be) with her baby. put it this way, pico gets tri tip, fresh sausage, free range chicken, and jenni is a vegetarian. you've got to love your dog if you are vegetarian AND willing to handle meat. i digress. back to the treats.

bella and i wanted to do something for little (actually quite large) pico. lo and behold, in the latest rachael ray magazine, was a recipe for doggie treats. it looked kid friendly. and easy. we had to jump into action!

Oh, and before you turn the other way with your nose in the air because you're too cool to like or even try RR's recipes, the recipe was developed by someone else.


Jessica Gorman's Olive Oil and Bacon Truffles

you can find the recipe here, as well as an archive of other recipes here.

basically, these are little scones with nuggets of crispy bacon inside. the ingredients are simple: whole wheat flour, bacon, cornmeal, beef broth, olive oil, and water. mix the dry ingredients and bacon, then add the wet and knead into a smooth dough. roll into balls and place on a foil lined sheet (i used parchment - it was fine). oh, and you bake them after drizzling them with the leftover bacon fat. 35 minutes exactly in a 350 degree oven and they're done.

the ease of this recipe was superb - it came together just as the recipe stated and the cooking time was spot on. considering the scare that pet owners received of late with tainted meat, making your dog's (or cat's) food seems less high maintenance with recipes like this.

as for the pico taste test, you'll have to wait until next week for the verdict...but by the looks of these, i would eat one - who can resist all that bacony goodness? oh wait, I'm starting to sound like the queen of yum-o herself.

i'm still not a dog person necessarily, but if a little pooch should cross my path, i have just the thing to soothe the savage beast.

ok, back to human food...

Review - Everyday Pasta, Giada De Laurentiis

Cookbook: Everyday Pasta
Author: Giada De Laurentiis
Publisher: Clarkson Potter

Recipe: Linguini with Turkey Meatballs
Page#: 177

Giada De Laurentiis just released her third cookbook, Everyday Pasta. Every time I get a new cookbook, I try at least one recipe within the first day or two, just to gauge the book. I usually try something simple. Why? Because if the simple stuff doesn't work, then the rest of the book is likely to disappoint. So what did I choose? Something easy: Linguini with Turkey Meatballs. It is featured as quick and tasty, and is supposed to leave my guests hungry for more (her words, not mine).

Ahem. Now let's get down to business.

What Worked:
Giada had a brilliant idea to add chopped sun dried tomatoes to the meatballs along with diced pancetta. Brilliant! Those little nuggets were a welcome surprise in the otherwise non brilliant meatballs (see below).

What Didn't:
Putting the recipe together was fairly easy, but the ingredients DID need to be tweaked (specifically more bread-crumbs to hold the meatballs together). Also, adding two eggs to the mixture left you with pretty wet meatballs (even after the addition of more bread-crumbs - but you can only add so much to offset the overabundance of eggs).

But the biggest disappointment was that the flavors of this dish just weren't there. The meatballs were bland (even with pancetta AND sun dried tomatoes) and the sauce lacked spark or depth (or heft for that matter, even after simmering a bit longer). My testing companion commented that even when the sauce is there 'it's just not there - it's just water and tomatoes'.

Verdict:
While it wasn't terrible, I wouldn't make it again. Which isn't to say I've given up on the book. But for spaghetti and meatballs, save your time and use another recipe from another book. How about this one? And I hate to say it, but even this one is better than Giada's. And you really can't go wrong with Mario. Doesn't he have sugo coursing through his bloodstream?

I think this recipe speaks volumes for the way that TV personalities tend to crank out cookbooks one after the other. Much like new rock bands who spend years crafting that first hit record, the second and third installments just fall flat.

Bottom line: this is just one of those recipes that looks great on paper, but just doesn't come through in execution. But I will be stealing the diced pancetta for my next meatball experiment.

New Reads....

New Cookbook:

Vietnamese Cooking Made Easy

my next purchase will be the Filipino volume.

Books to inspire our upcoming remodel:

The Barefoot Home

Creating the Not So Big House

Patterns of Home

I think the expression 'your eyes are bigger than your stomach' applies here somehow.

getting back to who we are.

while reading stef's post today, i was reminded of a desk i've been wanting for a LONG time. (stef, i think you may have convinced me to make the leap.)

the jay desk from west elm

this desk represents a change we've been going through at casa peterson of late. we've been craving organization lately. it's amazing how peaceful i feel once i get a few things in order - even if it's just the cutlery lined up like little soldiers in a new cutlery tray. isn't it strange what small things calm you?

our house is rather small (less than 1200 sq.ft.) and in a place this small, you must be as efficient as possible with your belongings. but the fact of the matter is....

we're not. at all.

everything is crammed into every available space. recently i had an 'aha' moment where i realized that every space in your home doesn't need to be filled. a little empty space is vital for flow. and most of all, i'ts OK. and that's what got the ball rolling.

but we're slowly making changes. we're ordering closet organizers (at this stage we're looking at elfa from the container store - any feedback?) . we're looking to ditch the furniture in our living room in favor of a smaller couch like this:

and a small slipper chair like this:


for bella we'll be trading in her changing station and dresser in favor of a dresser like one of these

with a shelf above it. and trading out her rocking chair with one of these:


it isn't as much of a makeover as a chance to express our lives a little more accurately, to distance ourselves from what we thought we should look like from the outside. to remove ourselves from the curse of the 'i'm getting rid of this - you want it?' style of furnishing, and break free of the items we have taken from family members and kept out of some strange obligation (i mean, if it was that special, why didn't they keep it in the first place?).

we're rethinking our artwork, and most of all trying to represent our true selves. no more will i spend each night eating dinner next to artwork that looks like it should be in a dentist's office!

and our motto now is 'one thing in, one thing out'. it's MUCH tougher than it sounds. but it does make you really think about what you are buying.

the book apartment therapy has been a tremendous help. if you are thinking of 'cleaning house' i can think of no better place to start. they even have a blog.

i hope you welcome your true selves back as well.

Latest Issue of Domino...

I absolutely LOVE Domino magazine (as well as Cottage Living, but that's in another post). The latest issue has some neat features. So their flipbook of the current issue doesn't contain either one of these, but I would say it's worth picking up a copy (or at least taking a look when you are in the checkout line). Or, if you are patient, they will probably have these on their site next month.

The first would be turning a spare room into a dressing area (page 73). Really neat ideas though. My only beef is that they say it's done 'on a budget' - ahem $5000 isn't a budget to me. I can see splurging on great quality shelving (in this case they used elfa), but $499 on a mirror? Sometimes I read this magazine and think, 'why didn't they just go to Target?'. In 30 seconds of Googling, I found one that is almost identical to the one in the piece. Back to the point, wouldn't it be great to have a) an extra room to turn into a dressing area and b) $5000 to blow on one?

So the second thing I really thought was a great idea was a feature in the latest issue about throwing a dinner party at a restaurant (page 70). Why didn't someone think (or write about) this sooner? OK, so it's basically making reservations for a large party, but the extra tips for making it a special night are great. And, I wouldn't be surprised if having a dinner party at a restaurant cost just about the same as having something at home. The article suggests using your own table decorations, having a menu printed up for the event (with a limited number of choices for each course to help YOU stay on budget, and giving each attendee a little gift at their place setting). This especially rings as a good idea if you live in a teeney weeney place and still want to entertain. Just think, you wouldn't need to have all the fixins for your sister-in-law's favorite cocktail - she could just order it at the dinner. I wonder how many restaurants would actually go for something like this? This would be worth it for me just for the fact that I wouldn't have to do dishes AND I could actually spend the whole time chatting with my guests!

G

Happy New Year

Every new year, I try to come up with fantastic resolutions and goals for the new year. I am always disappointed in myself come December, when I realize that most of them go unfulfilled.

This year instead, I have given myself a manageable resolution:

I just want my life to be different this time next year.

That shouldn't be taken as a statement of current unhappiness, just a desire to do different things in 2007. To take more chances. To make my life instead of following it. Mark and Bella will still be along for the ride. But who knows - maybe we'll move, maybe we'll add to the family. I hope that having this goal in the back of my mind will guide us to some new and exciting (or just different) adventures.

I hope your 2007 is different too. What do you want?

Latest Purchase for Good...

I just got the book from the mind behind Apartment Therapy, and it is fabulous. I read 80% of it in one night. Here's the ed statement from Amazon:

"New York-based interior designer Gillingham-Ryan is out to prove that even the dreariest, no-view walk-up can be transformed into a cozy urban oasis using his "eight-step home cure." The unflaggingly enthusiastic author asks readers to "listen" to their apartments-appraising what he refers to as the bones, breath, heart and head of the space-before determining ways to streamline. Despite the decorator's forays into psycho-babble, his advice proves practical as he teaches readers how to determine a makeover budget, de-clutter, liberate themselves from a lifetime of accumulated possessions and choose paint hues. "

There definitely is a tree-hugger-esque feel to it, but I am definitely taking on the 8 step home cure in January, when the holidays are behind us and I can completely focus on it. There's something to be said for his methods as well as his plan - isn't that what we all need - an action plan, delivered in smaller doses over 8 weeks? And no, we don't live in an apartment, but our house is so small that it's probably dwarfed by some apartments out there.

They even have a book blog. Check it out and join me for the next 'cure' in the spring.