Chair Economics

This weekend marks the first of two major home decorating successes for me: my first Craigslist sale and my first amazing trip to an LA garage sale!


On Friday evening, I sold a chair that I got at the thrift store last year and had planned to recover. I'd never quite gotten around to doing it and then learned how much it might cost to get it done! Yeesh. So, the chair I originally purchased for $17, I managed to successfully sell on Craigslist for $50!


With the bills still warm in my wallet, I set out to my first garage sale out here on Saturday morning - hoping to find something I was in need of - nightstands. Alas, I didn't find what I was looking for but instead, some unexpected treasures! I did so well at the first one - I stopped by another on the way home and it yet another jackpot.


This my friends is the equation of how one chair became so much more in the span of 24 hours. I'm still coming off my good deal euphoria so bare with me.

So for one chair - I got ANOTHER chair (plus ottoman) for $30, an electric sander for $10, two faux dark wood cubies with drawers for $5 together, AND had $5 to spare. Huzzah!

While I'm totally psyched to have that lovely chair in my bedroom (doesn't it look snazzy with my Pottery Barn bed pillow chillin on it?) - no more chairs! My 700 sq. ft haven is starting to be like that scene in Knocked Up where Paul Rudd freaks out because there are five different types of chairs in the hotel room.

Currently, I have five different types of chairs. I am selling my bar stools so hopefully that'll be down to four soon. I'm also considering a wicker embargo as I now have 3 different types of wicker chairs in the place. I like it as much as the next gal, but time to stop.

So how was your weekend? Mine was incredibly thrifty. :)

Our Thanksgiving Marathon

Ah Turkey Day - complete with a cornucopia of flowers. We can just relax- after all - most of the food is catered!

Wait- relax? Not possible! Too much to prepare! This is the scenario Gus and I found ourselves in this Thanksgiving when my very generous and kind Aunt decided we should make copious amounts of food for our guests. 

For today's post I'm going to give you the rundown of everything we made between 2-5pm on Thanksgiving Day plus all the food that was brought in and then I want you to guess how many attendees we were planning for!

Everything in italics is food we made from beginning to end. Those with asterisks involved us heating things up between 2-5pm.

Appetizers:

Cheese Tray

Cream Cheese with Pepper Jelly + Crackers

Cream Cheese with Blackberry Jelly + Crackers

Baked brie

(We apparently like cheese in this family)

Dinner:

Turkey and gravy*

Beef Tenderloin*
Cranberry Sauce
Broccoli, Cheese, and Rice Casserole*

Squash Casserole*

Cornbread Dressing*
Sweet Potato Casserole*
Rolls
Fried Corn

Green beans with almonds

Bacon-wrapped and regular asparagus

Mashed Potatoes

Dessert:

Apple Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Pecan Pie

Chocolate Pie (super nom)

Edible arrangement of fruit

Assorted berry bars

Blintzes

Ice Cream

Okay. Now it's your time to guess, based on the amount of food,  how many attendees were we expecting? The entire Native American population, perhaps?

 Eleven. Eleven people total. Yes, I know you're doing the math in your head - that's like a side per person. Oh well, it was delicious and there were surprisingly not all that many leftovers when all is said in done. I am thankful for my family's healthy appetites!

Somewhat Less than Seasonal Gingerbread Men

Gingerbread Mer-man, Pop.

While with my girls this past weekend, we decided to tackle that yuletide tradition of baking and decorating gingerbread men. Personally, my little Jewish princess self had only tackled gingerbread houses and the occasional sugar cookie dreidel decor, so this was an exciting adventure.


Using a recipe similar to this one, we somehow managed to roll out nearly 40+ cookies. Most of them ended up fat or blob-like because we didn't roll the dough thin enough. It's okay, we did not discriminate against them - we ate the fat ones too. Nom.


Anyway, in having so many cookies and only four of us to tackle to the decorating, we got a little stir crazy. That, combined with the fact that our red icing was a decidedly pink color - we went to town on making slightly less traditional holiday men.


Below, you will find our epic creations. I think we've broken the cookie mold when it comes to ginger dessert decorating for Christmas.

Gingerbread Man JAILHOUSE (left to right): Big Stripper Lady, Policeman, Stripper with Syphilis (my friend Tracy is in med school which heavily influenced our decorating), and a Murderer/Serial Killer with a carrot for gun (supposedly a knife according to Chrissy)

Fat gingerbread man no more! I turned him on his side and made him a cuddly turtle. 

My friends Pearce and Chrissy. Trust me, they look just like this in real life (except for the fact that Chrissy's skin tone is more like white icing than gingerbread.)

Last, but certainly not least, Gingerbread Man HOSPITAL: (Left to right, top row) Mummy Guy, The Doctor, A Knife Wound Victim, A Headless guy carrying his own head, A guy with Split Personalities, A patient with flesh-eating bacteria. (Left to right, bottom row) Guy who's been run-over by a car, Conjoined twins, Guy who's been taken over by poison ivy, Happy guy with jaundice, Guy with his leg in a cast

So there you have it. I'm currently working on a somewhat non-traditional Christmas/Hanukkah party so stay tuned for a creative holiday season here at LwA.

Up!

What better way to celebrate one of my favorite animated movies of all time, Pixar's Up, than to immortalize it in my 2009 Halloween costume? Constructed from cardboard, balloons, ribbon, tape, and some dedicated crayon coloring - Carl Fredricksen's Flying house is easily the most fun costume I've ever put together.

 I'll be posting a tutorial shortly complete with flat images of the house (in case you'd like to blow them up and use them as a template). For now, may I suggest for costume success that you add one handsome archeologist date to really make the costume work.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Ridiculously Awesome Halloween Costumes

In anticipation of tomorrow's BIG REVEAL of my Halloween Costume, I've compiled a short round-up of some true gems from around the web that are not to be missed. Click any picture for instructional how-to's from the people who actually created them.

iPod earbuds

 

Publisher's Clearing House Winner and Prizegiver (Couples Costume)

 

Ahh, tetris. You are awesome.

OMG, whoever thinks of these things is a genius. Alien Abduction.

Beaker. I told you this blog involved Muppets!

Find these and more at an excellent site, www.coolest-homemade-costumes.com. You can also submit your own costume this year to their annual contest!

And check back here tomorrow...

I will be posting the reveal of my 2009 Halloween Costume complete with a step-by-step how to and materials in case you want to make it in time for the festivities!

How much is too much for a trash can?

Natalie Dee Cartoon (Click picture for more)

I recently ran across this post at AOL's ShelterPop - A Round-up of Trash cans under $100.

A trash can and $100 in the same sentence? Surely not. Though, to be honest, I'm not as shocked as I would have been a few years ago. Story time, commence.

A friend and classmate of mine got married our senior year of college and she and her husband treated themselves to an early wedding gift: a stainless steel trashcan. I remember this very well in particular because my friend, upon buying said trash can, came to us - her bridesmaids - proclaiming the price tag - $140.

$140?! As Seniors, about to embark on a scary adult life of debt and entry-level job scrambling, me and the bridesmaids were in shock! Why... why? $140? For a trash can? I double checked that she was, in fact, putting trash in it and not using it for some higher purpose. We checked in with many other people at school about this hefty trash can purchase - was there something we were missing about the universe and appropriate trash canister pricing? I ran this figure by my dad, the one person I figured might actually say "yeah, duh Annie, that's what they typically cost." His response, complete and utter shock.

So $140, that was the highest I'd heard of for a trash can. Until today on Casa Sugar where someone is actually posting a discussion thread about the fact that she is thinking of justifying a $300 steel trash can purpose! What is up? I have to know...

How much will someone actually pay for a bin to put their garbage in..? What is the most expensive trash can available on the market?

This man needs his trash properly stored.

Bingo - $1,200 - at least that's what John Thain (above), former and fired Merrill Lynch CEO, paid for his antique wastebasket. According to this article at NY Daily News, apparently he got a bargain on the piece which can go for close to $4,000!! 

Well, there you go. That's pretty awful. Wait, it gets worse. According to this page, the world's most expensive trash cans go for between $10-15,000.

Suddenly, $140 doesn't sound too bad. However, us college students weren't about to let that purchase pass. For her mini-bridal shower, we surprised my friend with a super deluxe, bejeweled trash can - complete with butterfly lid (covered in amazing butterfly stickers). It was a bargain compared to the stainless steel one. :)

So, what's up with all the heinous b*tches on Glee?

I've been a big fan of "Glee" on Fox since the pilot was a huge hit back in the Spring. Gus and I have been keeping up with the series via my new trusty DVR and I'm starting to realize and get very annoyed by something on the show.

I mean, is it me, or are most of the women on "Glee" usually heinous bitches?

Someone, please tell me I'm not going crazy. I really like the show in theory and loved the pilot. I was a musical theater nut for most of growing up. It wasn't until college, where I didn't really fit in with the weird theater kids, that I stopped doing shows myself. (For anyone wondering, I just found a group of other weird kids that I gelled with better).

And, for the record, I do still like the show and some of the characters that at one point or another have been in my opinion - ridiculously bitchy (like Rachel). 

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Let's take a close look at these characters... I can't help but think after pulling this all together that there's something a bit insanely sexist about the way women are being portrayed every Wednesday on Fox these days.

WHO, AT SOME POINT IN THE SHOW, HAS BEEN A TOTAL HEINOUS BITCH?

Hmm, so that was helpful. Let's go to the charts for a closer, more mathematical look at the ridiculousness.


Below, you'll find a graph using all of the main characters plus the following supporting characters - Terri's sister Kendra, Kristin Chenoweth's Guest Starring Role, Jacob Ben Israel (the Blogger Jewish kid), Sandy Ryerson (the former Glee Club teacher), and Mike O'Malley in the role of Kurt's dad. They are ranked men vs. women on a scale of 'Evil to Saintly' regarding their standard portrayal. I've laid out my reasoning for each character after the graphs if you'd care to look it over first.

Pretty ridiculous, eh? Looking at this, the ratio of bitches to evil guys is 2:1!! Moreover, check out the Saintly ratio. I'm going to nickname this category the "Can't-do-no-wrong" Great Guy group. The ratio of deep-down good guys to deep down-good girls is 5:1! Yeesh.


Well, what if you just look at the main characters and leave those fringe/outrageous ones out?


There's 14 total main characters by my count. The women are: Rachel Barry, Quinn, Terri (Will's wife), Sue Sylvester, Emma, Mercedes, and Tina. The men are: Will, Finn, Puck (Finn's 'friend'), Kurt, Artie (Wheelchair kid), Ken Tanaka (the coach), and Principal Figgins.


The numbers should lay out differently right? OH yeah they do - check this out -

Yes you read that right - looking at the characters that are regularly featured, the evil women to evil men ratio becomes 4:1! And the Saintly ratio is off the charts again.


Ugh, how did we get to this point? Here's my reasoning behind the rankings and why I think 1) this is happening and 2) why this needs to be addressed in some way on the series.


THE RANKINGS


THE NEUTRALS
Women - Tina and Mercedes
While Mercedes has had her moments of stubborness and diva-tude, she's never really done much on the show other than be comic relief. Tina had a brief moment of slutiness with slapping her thighs to her Glee audition of Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl, but since then she's been sweet and nice and we've felt for her - especially when Rachel wanted her solo. Tina could even be in the Saintly category but for now- I really think only Emma belongs there.


Men - Principal Figgins
He's a little unorthodox but not all that harmful as the school's principals. He sides with both Will and Sue at seperate points and there isn't much craziness that he's actually a part of - aside from that airline commercial that really, let's be honest, isn't all that bad.


THE SAINTS
Women - EMMA
Geez, I know they gave her a flaw with her OCD, and I think some might argue it's a little slutty that she's going after Will when he's married. But c'mon, she's doe-eyed for gosh sakes.


Men - Will, Finn, Kurt, Artie, Ken Tanaka, and Mike O'Malley as Kurt's Dad
Will, they've tried to make him flawed but really, Will's always a super nice good guy. He flirts with Emma but hasn't done anything physical, he has made a lot of effort with Terri, he's advising Finn, etc. Finn, okay he did kiss Rachel/cheat on Quinn, but of course it was portrayed in a pretty innocent way and we feel sympathetic towards him as Quinn is lying to him about their child. Finn's also lovably stupid and again, deep down you know he's a good guy. Kurt - I love Kurt as much as anyone else, some may argue that he's sassy to the point that he can't be sainty - I disagree. He hasn't really done anything except stand up for himself and I'd say he's been pretty rewarded at this point for doing so (especially in the episode with his dad).


Artie would be neutral but they've made him lovable and sympathetic through his association with the wheel chair. Ken's not perfect but it's pretty clear that his love for Emma is nearly unconditionable and again- deep down, he's a good guy and Emma's plan Z for her life. Finally, you've got Mike Myers, who on the surface is the macho dad afraid to have a gay son but in the end, you come to find out - you guessed it- he's a good guy!


THE BITCHES
Women - Rachel, Quinn, Terri, Sue Sylvester, Terri's sister Kendra, and Kristin Chenoweth's Guest Character
SLUTTY/LYING/CHEATERS - Quinn (w/Puck), Rachel (w/Finn)
SELF-OBSESSED - Rachel (again)
MANIPULATIVE/DECEITFUL - Terri, Terri's sister Kendra
SLUTTY/DRUNK - Kristin Chenoweth's character
MANIPULATIVE/DECEITFUL/PURE EVIL/ASEXUAL - Sue Sylvester


Men - Puck, Sandy Ryerson (Former Glee Coach), Jacob Ben Israel (Blogger Jewish kid)

SLUTTY/LYING/DISLOYAL/CHEATER - Puck
PERVERTED/CRIMINAL/SELF-OBSESSED/MANIPULATIVE - Sandy Ryerson
PERVERTED/MANIPULATIVE - Jacob Ben Israel


So if you'll agree there's a heavy weight being placed on these female characters, why is this happening?

I think the answer might be due to 2 things - the fact that the show was created by three guys (Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan) and continues to be run by Murphy AND dare I say it... poor character writing.


Can anyone tell me what Quinn's motivation for this week's song was about? Why did Rachel break into a devastating ballad of "Take a Bow" portrayed as a betrayal by Finn being with Quinn - when she was the other woman and they had only shared ONE kiss? Poorly written characters - plain and simple.


Does equality for women really mean that the characters on a tv show should lay out equally evil or equally saintly? No, absolutely not. But when week after week, it's the women who are the sluts and the men who are redeemable good ol shlubs stuck in the middle - that can be pretty out of sync not only with sexism but really - with good writing. Lately, the women have become shingles to hang all the issues of the show on. Need to make something interesting? Have one of the women be a slut! Have them lie! Have them try to buy a freaking child and deceive their own husband via an ultrasound! I'm all for drama and comedy and the over-the-topness, but I'd love to see more flaws on the men's side.  How bout it, Ryan Murphy?


Note: I do not expect everyone to agree with me and know that there are counter-arguments. I'm just enjoying finally getting this nagging element of the series of my chest! Woo.