grand design

There used to be this band at college, called "Coincidence Maybe" and so we said it a lot.

"Oh, fancy seeing you here.  Coincidence?"  (beat)
"Maybe."

I still think of that phrase pretty often.  Like when TJ's food fits perfectly onto Ikea shelves, like they were built for each other.

So, know that next time something happens, in my mind, I'm thinking "Coincidence?  Maybe." and I'm sending it to the whole old crew.

moony, pt 100

So, I do it.  I "belong" to Fab.com, and I've sold out my Facebook to them, and my credits just keep stacking up.  It's one of those websites where you have to sign up for it, and designy things are only for sale for a day or two, so you get pressured into buying stuff (at "discounted" prices).  And the fake money (as with real money) just burns a hole in my internet pocket.

With the $115 credits I've "earned" so far, I've ordered several notable things:
Today I got* this guy

a bowl, that's also the moon.  I don't know, it's kind of good, right?  And was free-ish**.  We'll see.

I also got this cardboard cat-scratcher bed that has been a big hit and I would recommend separately from Fab.com, in case anyone was wondering.  Also free-ish.

In short, it's great because the way it's worked out, I get things I wouldn't normally buy, for free.  But their website is terrible because you can't search for something, and shipping is pretty pricey, and takes forever.  What a win/lose.  It's a win/lose I can't stop though.

Here's an invite if you want to try out this weird, slippery slope with me.


*by "got" I mean ordered, and I'll actually get it in about a month.  Seriously, slowest shipping ever with these guys.
**by "free-ish" I mean I didn't pay for the item at all, but shipping might be up to $5 which isn't unaffordable, but is decidedly not free.

contest

AT Small Cool

Oh hey guys, saw this tonight!  My house (well really, my hand-drawn floor plan and not-the-best pictures) made the cut for Apartment Therapy's Small Cool contest this year.  I don't think I'll really be in the running for any kind of grand prize action (I think you need one million Twitter followers for that?) but it's still be nice if you could "favorite" my house.   Yeah?

Do it.  Just hit favorite.  It'll make me feel better about when someone in the comments eventually gets snarky.

mini

Sunday was Easter brunch, and I made a food pretty much based on the existence of these potatoes.  Oh, just a regular old bag of spuds (sorry), right?

Psych.  They're so small!  They're just called "Teeny Tiny Potatoes" and they come courtesy of the Trader.
Smaller/better/wrapped in bacon+.

(Sorry.  I don't know when this blog turned all Epicurious.  Spring Fever or something.)

'roid rage

Sorting through old everything, and found all these Polaroids (they're now framed in my kitchen*).  From back when film was affordable, and we were all skinny and pretty and did funny things.

*some workmen were at my house today, taking measurements, and I overheard that my kitchen ceiling is 6'5".  What!  Talk about dungeon-y. Good thing we keep away from giants.

taco soup

This is like a recipe (because people put recipes on the blogs, right?) that is a mix of some thing Paula Deen did, and some things some people at The Kitchn and some camping websites did, and some amount of choosing ingredients based on their names* and pricetags.

It goes like this: cook the onions in a dutch oven, and put all these ingredients right on top:

green chilis (I only used half a can)
diced tomatoes
diced tomatoes with chilis (I don't know)
pinto beans
black beans
great northern beans
corn
taco seasoning
onions (I don't know what color to get? That's unknowable!)

So that takes like...10min?  I don't know, it's mostly a lot of opening cans, which is very interesting to some cats.  Then you just let it sit on the stove for forever.  (At some point add taco meat that Dave prepared totally separately at his own home). Serve over/with:

rice
"Mexican" cheese
sour cream
chips

Totally great.  Best part, it fits in with my new Cheapskate Lifestyle.  Was about $15, and made at least that many servings.  Super healthy too**!

* "Great Nothern" beans.   Ha.
** jokes!