Friday Things
1. Joseph hasn’t missed a beat and has been trying to walk as far as possible every time he stands up. It’s so adorable to see him with his hands in air, stumbling across the room. He usually let’s out an “oooooh!” or “whoaaaaaa!” while he’s walking – hysterical! Here is a quick little video :)
2. Did you get a lot of snow where you live? We didn’t end up with much at all – maybe three inches? However, family that lives not very far from us got six inches and other suburbs around the city got up to a foot! I guess we were just on the edge of the storm.
3. DYING over this video of an enormous brown bear cuddling with his handler. I’ve always wanted to cuddle with a bear, which is probably all sorts of crazy, but just look how cozy!
4. Have you read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up? I ordered the book and immediately loaned it to my mom, but I’m excited to dig in. I really never thought I had THAT much stuff until we moved. When I saw how many boxes it took to move clothes, books, kitchen stuff and everything else in between, I was astonished. I’ve been wanting to purge and streamline and organize ever since.
5. On a similar note, I am love, love, loving this post from Pinch of Yum on how to start a capsule wardrobe. I’m inspired!
6. Very interesting take on prepping for a baby in Finland.
7. This post about wanting a mediocre life is a beautiful take on life in general. (h/t How Sweet It Is)
8. I have two main cast iron skillets – a 10″ and 12″… the 10″ one is seasoned beautifully – the finish is slick and black and nothing ever sticks to it; I can basically just wipe it out after I use it. The larger one, however, is in less than stellar shape, with some layers of cooked-on gunk hanging around. I’m planning on using this method from Cook’s Illustrated over the weekend to get it in tip-top shape.
9. I’m at the tail end of my Whole30 (Sunday will be my last day), and I’m excited to hop on the scale Monday morning. I’ve been feeling great and may continue doing it on a modified schedule, allowing myself to indulge on Sundays again!
10. TGIF! This is Einstein’s lazy way of begging for his dinner early ;-)
I like the idea of a minimal or capsule wardrobe, but I’m not sure how it would work for me in an office where people seem to wear different things every day. I only have a few pairs of dress pants. I think I have about seven, and I just switch them out. gmail
My capsule wardrobe is more of the Matilda Kahl (http://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a10441/why-i-wear-the-same-thing-to-work-everday/) or Mark Zuckerberg kind. Unlike them, the pieces in my wardrobe aren’t all identical, just the same color (there are some identical pieces). I recently went on a week-long trip and packing couldn’t have been easier. Instead of deciding which color sweater would go with most of my pieces, all I had to decide was whether or not I needed a sweater. It certainly makes shopping easier and probably a lot less expensive.
Loved the piece on wanting a mediocre life.
I’m so excited to read The Art of Tidying Up!!!!
The video of Joseph walking is so cute! He’s going to be running soon!
I want to read the book on Tidying up but I’m almost afraid to see how much I need to declutter…lol…
I like the idea of the minimal or capsule wardrobe – I just don’t know how it would work with me going to work in an office environment when it seems like people wear something different every day! I do the minimal thing with dress pants – I think I have like 7 pairs and I just rotate them out.
The post at a life in progress is spot on! Beautifully said and so true. I don’t have any cast iron skillets at all – I keep looking at them but I’ll admit to being a little stressed out over the “curing” process.
I look forward to your daily posts, but especially the Friday posts with your updates on Joseph. You are so kind to share your adorable bundle of happiness with us!
maybe it’s something you already knew but for the cook’s illustrated way to re-season cast iron, you have to use very coarse salt, like kosher salt. it was my first time doing it and i didnt know any better so i used just regular table salt and it didn’t work so i gave up. on their podcast chris does say it has to be coarse salt and that’s how i knew what i was doing wrong. i really do think those instructions should mention that as well. but are you sure you dont want to do this instead? http://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5820-the-ultimate-way-to-season-cast-iron?ref=new_search_experience_1&incode=MCSCD00L0 seems like that’s the way to go, i’ts on my to-do list :)
Hi Jose, Thanks for pointing this out! I do use coarse kosher salt and oil to regularly clean my cast iron skillets. This method just didn’t work on getting that layer of gunk off, so I think I’ll be doing the stripping and re-seasoning per the link you shared. I did that with another pan, except I used shortening; I’ll have to give the flaxseed oil a try!
Michelle,
I would stick with Crisco or use bacon grease for seasoning cast iron. Flaxseed oil seasoning can flake off and doesn’t give a good finish.
Everything about the sentence “Iâm excited to hop on the scale Monday morning” has me so confused.
I started doing the capsule wardrobe in November form a “Friday Things” that you had posted in October! I love, love, love it! I work full-time, 8-5 so it has been awesome to have my closet clean, no extra clothes, and getting ready for work is no effort. I’m looking forward to doing my spring capsule, but the way the weather is in the northeast it may not happen until June!
I’m probably a little over an hour south of you (Uniontown) and we got 2 feet of snow! It was miserable to shovel!
HI!!! I’ve been watching you for years!!!
And I always want to know…
What do you do with all the food you make?
Thanks,
Sara in San Jose
Hi Sara, The bulk of the food that I make is served for our Sunday dinners, when we have a lot of family over! If there are a lot of leftovers or I make something during the week that we won’t be able to finish, my mom stops by and takes it into work for her coworkers :)
Loved the short video. What a sweet little boy Joseph is.
I’m on day 20 of my whole30. I miss going out to eat!
You can do it!!! :)
Michelle I can begin to tell you how much I look forward to your Friday posts! Joseph is absolutely adorable and those Golden boys touch my heart. As an owner of a Golden Retriever I have always wondered if their heads are really that heavy that they must rest them on something all the time!? :) Have a wonderful weekend!
CAPSULE WARDROBE I highly encourage you to visit the Colette blog (colettehq.com) and read her Wardrobe Architect series. It’s a sewing blog but the reading/activities in this series can be used by non-sewers too. She breaks down different aspects of one’s wardrobe and has you do activities that really help you put a lot of thought into crafting a capsule wardrobe that actually works. I found it incredibly helpful.
Hi Jill, That’s awesome, I’m going to check out that series!
Joseph is as precious as can be and your Einstein looks exactly like my Oliver.
Lovely pictures:-)
Michelle, there is a facebook group called Cast Iron Cooking that has lots of information on seasoning skillets and how to maintain them. You may want to check them out. They also share lots and lots of recipes for cast iron cooking.
Hi Theresa, Thanks for the that tip, I’ll check out the group!
My granddaughter is a 2 months older and just started to want to walk. We live in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia and received 28 inches of snow.
I loved the post by A Life In Progress. It really struck a chord. The links you share are always great.
Joseph is just too cute. I love how proud of himself he is. :)
Michelle, I have been looking for a pretty stellar cast iron skillet! Where did you get yours and do you absolutely love it?
Hi Laketia, I think I got it at a kitchen supply outlet store, but I’m 90% sure that it’s a Lodge skillet. I’m honestly not in love with how it’s “seasoned” straight from the store. My favorite pan now is one my husband didn’t take great care of before we moved in together (also a Lodge), which I stripped it and re-seasoned.
That adorable little man with his tiny little tongue sticking out on the side how cute is that!!!! I love the way he walks and the way his little belly looks as he walks. I’d be picking him up and kissing that little face and belly ??? They’re so cute when they’re learning things.
We got hit with 26 inches of snow. Was not a happy camper here in New York. ?
Love love love your doggy …doggies ??
Your son is a cutie! I have a golden retriever named Maggie, and that is EXACTLY how she begs for food too!
Awww Joseph is sooo cute x
Awww…Joseph is so super cute with his little steps and smile on is face <3.
Every cuddling animal is cute <3 ( I love word Cute ;))
I love tidyng up and to organize so that book should be on my 'have to read'-list.
Einstein is so cool <3
Have a great weekend !
Best wishes to all of You from one of the Happiest Mom in the World ;)