Vertical vegetable farms in your window

This is a marvelous idea, a nonprofit is encouraging city-dwellers to create their own soil-free vegetable gardens in the windows of their apartments. Up to 25 different plants may grow in a single window. Amazing!

Pass it on and, if you can, help these folks achieve their goals!

More information at Kickstarter and Windows Farm

via Kickstarter

Beach Vacation-What to wear?

F and I decided to organize a last-minute beach escape to Cozumel…I haven’t been working for the past few months, but he’s been working non-stop since early last year and really needs a break. So we decided to repurpose some of the kitchen remodel dollars we’ve been saving up and get the heck out of town for a few days.

The last time I wore a swimsuit was in September. I’ve been doing Weight Watchers since the end of February, and assumed that I was more or less the same size in September as I am now. Because of this, I haven’t bothered to try anything on or decide what to pack–I just figured I’d use the same old stuff.

Now the good news/bad news: I just tried on my “summer” clothes, and most are now way too big! This is great news, because I’m slowly taking my extra pounds off (only about 15 more to go!). However, now I don’t have much in terms of summertime vacation stuff! I didn’t even remember that I owned 6 swimsuits (from when we lived in South Florida!): 2 one-pieces, a tankini, a boyshort 2-piece and 2 bikinis. One of the one-piece fits, but the other is waaay too big. The tankini is waaay too big. The boyshort fits okay but I need F’s 2nd opinion about how lumpy it makes my belly look. Strangely enough, one of the bikinis actually doesn’t look too bad. The other is okay, but the top fits a bit funny since I have fatter boobs now than I did when I bought it originally…

Summary: one one-piece and 2 maybes, both two-pieces. I’d like to bring at least 2 since we’ll have 5 beach days, we’ll see. I admit I feel great trepidation about hitting the beach with my tummy showing–not only does it still have a ghastly amount of flab, but it is also phosphorescently pallid. We’ll see. In related news, all my sundresses are too big, and my only summer skirts also. I haven’t even gone through my tops yet. Where can I find cute stylish summer clothes that won’t cost me a fortune? In Seattle? I’ll report later on my success…

Kitchen Decisions

Well, we’ve conquered a great beast the last couple of days–Fernando and I have finally decided our wood and granite combination for the kitchen remodel we are planning for later in the year! Here it is:

Cappucino and Chestnut-Stained Maple

Now we are hammering out the specific appliances, and never knew that figuring out what to do with the doggone microwave oven would be such a challenge. It is over the single wall oven now, but we want double ovens…So where to put the microwave? How to find one that does not jut out several inches past our wall cabinets if we install it there? Some have suggested installing it, drawer-style, in a base cabinet but I just don’t see it. Having it on the counter is not appealing…so? We’re still working out the details there. Good news: we are a few steps closer. Some important kitchen remodel planning tips:

1. Granite looks totally different in the granite yard from a gray day to a sunny day. Also with and without sunglasses.

2. Albert Lee is NOT the super-high-end luxury appliance place we thought it was. Rather, it is, but they sell normal stuff too, and at really reasonable prices. PLUS, our sales guy John really knows what he is doing with 25+ years in the business.

3. As anxious as we are to get started, taking lots of time to plan up front is probably saving us headaches, heartbreaks, and a big chunk of change!