If my feet had wings...

This has got to be one of the coolest tattoos I've ever seen. I ran across this at ACL a couple of years ago, and if I were to ever get a tattoo (don't worry Mom, I won't), this would be it. I guess it's not quite as applicable, as I'm becoming a slower and slower runner lately, but maybe it would speed me up a bit.

Restaurant Week Goodness

So last night Boyfriend and I took advantage of the extended Restaurant Week deal at PS 7s, which was by far our favorite pick from the last Restaurant Week. It's one of those restaurants that I just can't afford normally, and even during the Restaurant Week special ($35.09 for 3 course meal), by the time you add drinks and tax (seriously, I don't understand why DC has a 10% food tax), it's not exactly nice to the budget. So it's a once a year kinda place, but definitely worth it.

Both Boyfriend and I started off with the poached mussels in coconut milk and red Thai curry with crispy rice noodles, which was a really unique approach to mussels and completely delicious. I think I would have been completely happy just eating that for dinner.

For the main course, I had the soy glazed cod with black rice, shrimp and sweet potato fritter, and a spicy cucumber salad. The black rice wasn't the most interesting item on the plate, but the rest of my food made up for it. The cucumber salad had a bit too much seasoning for my taste, as it was really overpowering, but it was a good salad. The cod was amazing, as well as my favorite part of the main course, the fritter. I'm seriously going to have to figure out how to make them, because if someone can make sweet potatoes taste good to me, they have talent.

Boyfriend ordered the pan seared salmon with endive, walnuts and watercress salad, parsnip puree and orange reduction. Once again, the starch won it out for me on his plate, as the parsnip puree was smooth and deliciously rich. The salmon was a tad bit overcooked, but the sauce was really good.

For dessert, I opted for the banana crisp with rum and coke ice cream, and I was not disappointed. The combination was quite good, even though the ice cream didn't have a very strong flavor. Boyfriend got his ice cream maker for Christmas, despite the fact I had made fun of him for asking for it, and is now inspired to try and make something similar. He went for the pineapple polenta cake with ginger spice syrup and red currant gel, which I thought was a bit dry, but a tastier version of a pineapple upside down cake.

All in all, two thumbs up.

Boyfriend's Room Gets a Facelift Part 5

So I figured I should update everyone, rather than just leave it hanging as to what all is going on in the Boyfriend's room. My part is pretty much done, as we've hung most of the artwork, purchased the end tables and rug that I picked out and moved everything around. The current list of things to do is:

1) buy big frames, pick out photos to put in current little frames, and finish hanging all the artwork
2) build the workbench/desk
3) dismantle current desk and put everything away in its new home
4) build the benches to go in the alcove (this one probably won't happen for a few months at least)

As you can see, most of those are issues that Boyfriend has to deal with, because despite my skill with a handsaw, I haven't quite graduated to power tools yet. I've owned a cordless drill for about a year now, and haven't personally used it once. But it's handier than Boyfriend having to haul his down every time he has to use a drill.

So anyway, it will probably be a while before I can actually post the final after pictures, but stay tuned in the not so near future for them.

Wallpaper Headboard

In the interest of saving space and creating a cheap and easy headboard, I thought I would pass along this nifty idea I picked up from Martha today. All it requires is a small piece of fancy (or not so fancy) wallpaper and an exacto knife to cut along the patter and then paste that bad boy up on the wall.

I've also seen several times lately that it is possible to use fabric as a temporary wallpaper of sorts, by attaching it to the wall with liquid or spray starch. I'm not sure how well this works, as I haven't tried it, but I can definitely see it being applicable in this case as well. It might be kind of fun to just cut out a medallion or different shapes out of fabric and apply them to the wall, rather than entirely covering the wall. Hmm....I'm giving myself all kinds of ideas now, I'll have to get back with you on what I end up trying.

(Photo courtesy of www.marthastewart.com)

To each his own - or more likely to each her own, in the case of pink bathrooms vs. the world

I have a pink bathroom, as many of you are aware. And I mean pink.

I managed to make it as stylish as I could, but still, I wouldn't mind eliminating pink bathrooms from the face of the planet. Turns out, not everyone feels the same way I do. Apparently, there is an entire website devoted to promoting the pink bathroom. Like I said, to each her own (as there is no way a guy would back this).

Pepsi Ad Addendum

So I was cruising the blogosphere this morning, and I came across a picture of the actual Pepsi ad on the bus on www.dcblogs.com. On the bus itself I think it's harder to tell that it says optimism, in my opinion at least. Ok, I know it's a mildly pathetic attempt to defend myself further, but it still stands. :)

(Image courtesy of www.dcblogs.com)

Talking to Oneself is the First Sign of Insanity

I used to play a computer game called Hugo's House of Horrors where you had to type in what you wanted Hugo to do. Whenever the computer didn't understand what you asked of it, which was frequent, considering the game was released in 1990, it replied by saying "Talking to oneself is the first sign of insanity."

Well, if that's the case, I must be insane. My office is arranged in a square around the elevator shaft, and my corner of the office is sparsely populated. This has led to me whispering things to myself all the time, as I get lonely over here. That is, until someone moved into the cubicle two down from me, and now she gets to hear me muttering all day. I really should learn to curb that habit.

I promise I will stop posting about the Pepsi ads when they stop running them

I really can't help it that Pepsi has essentially bought the DC transit system, so you'll just have to put up with it. Today I was walking to the metro, and I saw a bus with this ad on the side:

(Image courtesy of Pepsi - http://www.refresheverything.com/)

Obviously I recognized that it was a Pepsi ad, but I was really confused as to what it was trying to say. I sounded it out out loud - Pt im ismmmm? What does that mean? Are they trying to just make a random sound? Ah, that was when I realized the O in front. Somehow this ad didn't quite translate as well in my head as the ones with the O in the middle. Am I the only stupid person here, or did you see optimism when you first looked at it as well?

Boyfriend's Room Gets a Facelift Part 4

So I had no idea this whole refreshing of Boyfriend's room would take so long, which brings me to conclusion #1 - Boyfriend and I have different work styles. I like to just plunge in, get everything done, and it may not be perfect, but stuff can be adjusted later. Boyfriend, on the other hand, thinks long and hard about each decision, and things come out right the first time. So, needless to say, we did not finish up the room on Saturday.

The morning was spent shopping for a small desk, picture frames, and picture hanging hardware. We came home with picture hanging hardware, and had a desk option we were thinking about at Target. The next large chunk of the day was trying to coordinate an end table pick-up, as Boyfriend decided he liked one of the Craigslist options I had picked out, rather than wait for me to collect enough tin can lids (I currently have 5 lids, and yes, I did indeed look in the recycle bin in the trash room of my building). He bought 2 of these stools, which he is planning on adding a hard top to, instead of the soft upholstered top.

Side note: If anyone wants to send me their tin can lids, that would be awesome.

By the time we actually got to work in the room itself, a large chunk of the day had passed, but we did manage to get some more artwork hung. At about 8 pm, we decided we should go back to Target and get the computer desk that was a decent option, but not exactly the most stylish. We passed someone else with the desk in their cart, and smiled. That is, we smiled until we got to the aisle and there were no longer any more of the desk. Luckily, I was able to spot one hidden down on another shelf, so we carried our treasure home.

After following the directions carefully and assembling the whole thing, we discover the picture and dimensions are misleading, as the keyboard tray doesn't fit a keyboard and a mouse, unless you have like the smallest possible keyboard you could possibly buy. At this point, I came to conclusion #1, so I let Boyfriend figure out what he wanted to do, rather than rush him into anything. He decided it just wouldn't work, so we then disassembled the desk and took it back to Target. Current plans are to buy a normal table and modify it to become a desk, or to possibly incorporate it into the workbench itself, making an L-shape. Things are really starting to come together, so stay tuned for the next update.

Murals: DC Edition #3

So I pass by this mural all the time, but never really looked at it until a couple of weeks ago, and it made me laugh, because when I think Burger King, of course I think Oasis in the City. This is on K Street, which is the main corridor of the downtown business district.

An Oasis in the City

Boyfriend's Room gets a Facelift Part 3

As a way of introduction, and just so you don't think I completely added the wrong title to this post, I came across some hammered copper end tables yesterday on craigslist that I thought would look fantastic in boyfriend's room, but they were just too expensive, and not exactly what he wanted anyway.

So a while ago I ran across the wall covered in different-sized and different-colored tin can lids, and fell in love, and filed it away in ideas which I must someday try. In my internet perambulations today I came across another blog post which talked about it in more detail and actually pointed me to the website of the guy who created it, Clare Graham. It turns out I don't really like the image of the whole entire wall covered in the lids, as I had only seen a detail picture of it before, but I still really like the idea of it used as an accent. So I was quite happy to run across this little end table on his website, which inspired me immediately to try and do something similar for Boyfriend's room. So if you see me digging through trash cans this weekend, no worries, I'm not homeless, I'm just looking for some tin can lids.

(Photo courtesy of Clare Graham)

Putting Old Magazines to Work

I ran across the idea of using magazines to make a plant stand on Apartment Therapy a while ago, but finally got around to doing it a week or two ago. I was skeptical about how sturdy it would be, but it supports a very heavy plant, so I'm happy. I'm still hesitant to do a multilayer version like they do in the original post, but for now it's good. Also, they said it would require only 2 magazines, but I had to use 2 Real Simples and 4 Cosmos, so sorry Nikki, you don't get another care package full of frivolous girl magazines.

It's pop, not soda, not coke, and definitely not sodie pop

Obviously, I know Pepsi is not trying to support my battle that I will wage to the death as to what to call carbonated, sugar-filled beverages, but this sign just really made me happy. That is, until a couple of days later I saw one that said pop three times, utilizing the 3 new Pepsi logos, but unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me at the time.

I'm Glad I Date Someone Who Loves to Cook

Case in point - Valentine's dinner:

Lobster and heart of palm salad with avocado cream dressing
Super cheesy potatoes au gratin (my only request)
Green beans with lemon butter sauce
Pan-seared duck with a balsamic and cherry reduction
Pears poached in port wine with chocolate

Boyfriend's Room gets a Facelift Part 2

I couldn't start entirely from scratch, but it was good to have a framework to start with. Boyfriend came up with the general idea of how he wanted his room to function, which included benches in the window area and a workbench for all his woodworking/electronics/metal projects (he's an engineer and loves to tinker).

Also, boyfriend has traveled to Africa several times, so most of his artwork/decorations have come from there. Based on this, I came up with a new layout and a scheme for displaying his artwork, a lot of which was just laying around on the floor because he never got around to hanging it. The tough thing is editing the collection down to a cohesive collection that doesn't overwhelm the wall space. Most of the walls are cut up by doors and windows, and one wall will pretty much be taken up with a pegboard over the workbench, so our only big wall space is over the bed.

Trying to decide what goes where

My other big task is to put my amazing craigslist searching skills to use and find him a rug, a small computer desk to replace the monster he currently has, and two end tables (currently he's using a filing cabinet and an old end table that needs to go). Today I've managed to unearth a rug that we will be looking at on Tuesday. If it is too orange, it may end up in my apartment. :)

Boyfriend's Room Gets a Facelift

So one of the reasons I've been MIA lately is that I have been helping boyfriend completely redo his bedroom. He lives in a rowhouse and has the master bedroom, so it's just about the size of my apartment. After all of his hard work helping me with my apartment, I told him I would help him with his, but we've been trying for months now and keep stalling. The plan was to clean up and organize/get rid of all of his stuff (massive undertaking - he's a hoarder), deep clean his room, rearrange the furniture and then decorate. We've gotten to the deep clean stage several times and then stop, and it just went back to the beginning. So last week we said, no more, and pledged to work until at least the furniture was rearranged. We're basically at the decorating stage, and Saturday plan to wrap things up. I'll give you an idea of the massiveness of the project by showing you the before pictures for starters.

Stay tuned for the reveal of the new room!

You Light Up My LIfe

So I was going to do a massive catch-up post, but I just don't have the energy to tackle that, so we'll leave that to another day. So anyways, way back in January I went to a Fray concert at the 9:30 Club with some UT transpeeps (third time seeing them with Jeff), and I was very impressed with their set design. They had all these lamps set up that would turn on and off with the music. It doesn't quite come out as well as being there, but you get the idea.

In the Middle of the Pack - My Life in the Rat Race

So today is my 2 year anniversary of becoming a productive member of the work force. I think it's time to go back and get my phd....

Feeling Quacky

I saw this mirror in a magazine quite a while ago, I think, and I've wanted it ever since. I can't quite stomach paying around $85 for a novelty mirror though, so for now its picture stays in the house book.

(Photo courtesy of Amazon)

Apparently I'm attracted to duck-like things, because I craved these measuring cups as well, and I got them for Christmas the year before last.

Being Snoopy

So every now and then I google my address, just to see if any of the condos are for sale. They have been maintaining a steady 200k price tag over the past year or so, which surprises me, but it's definitely cheap for the neighborhood. I also just like to see how other people's apartments look in my building, as I admit I am a snoop. Usually the listings just have a generic picture of the outside of the building and maybe the rooftop pool, so that doesn't help me, but I hit the jackpot today. Here is a side-by-side comparison of what my apartment looks like next to one a floor below. It is the exact same floorplan, just mirrored in both directions (it's across the hall and in a different location along the hallway).

Entrance / Bedroom Area

The other apartment


My apartment prior to moving in all my stuff


The way I first set it up

A comparable shot of how my apartment is currently set up

Living Room Area

The other apartment

The way I first set it up

The current arrangement of my apartment

Living Room Wall / My Dining Room

The other apartment


The first set-up in my apartment


The current set-up in my apartment

Bathroom

The other apartment - apparently I'm not the only one plagued with a pink bathroom


My bathroom

Living Room / Looking into Kitchen

The other apartment


My first-set up




My current set-up of the apartment

Kitchen

The other apartment


My first set-up of the kitchen corner


My current set-up of this kitchen corner

The other apartment


My current set-up of the kitchen

So there you have it folks, the arrangements of another apartment in my building and two ways I've set up my apartment. In case you're wondering, I'm getting re-arranging fever, as my apartment has been approximately the same for the past six months. :)

(All photos of the other apartment courtesy of redfin)