New Old Dresser

This fall, I picked up a used dresser at a cute antique shop in Bridgton. Not wanting to spend a lot of money, it was a bit of a fixer-upper, and Chris helped me sand and paint a piece of furniture for one of the first times in my life. Here’s a few pics of the project:

It started out maroon with deep white grooves from the layer underneath. The last person who painted, inexplicably, did a very poor job.

We did our best to sand out some of the imperfections, and the rest we tried to catch with a good paint job. First we primed it…

 

And then we painted it! My favorite thing about this dresser is its character. It’s got fun little compartments on top, and the curvy edges and drawers give some extra style to the bedroom.

 

Yummy Lemon Rolls!

One of the rules mentioned in Pollan’s Food Rules (see previous post) is that if you can make it, you can eat it. The theory behind this is that baking and preparing other delicious food takes time, thereby limiting the frequency that you will eat unhealthy treats (his example is fried chicken). In the spirit of this, I thought I would share a simply delicious splurge I tried out for Christmas morning: lemon sticky buns. These delicious breakfast rolls are a lot like their more famous cinnamon cousins– but if you like lemon, the flavor substitution is just perfection 🙂

Check out my batch…

 

…and then check out the recipe at: Lemon Rolls @ TheKitchn.com

Reading in the New Year

I am a reader. I love to get lost in fiction stories, and I have more recently come to deeply appreciate non-fiction as well. I collect stories in both my head and my home, and I count many of my favorite books– dog-eared and well-worn– among my treasured possessions. Many people who love to read like to keep book journals, keeping track of when they read books as well as some of the content highlights.

Inspired by the idea of a book journal, but utterly uncommitted to that kind of organization and intentionality, I adopted a tradition of my own several years ago: When I finish a book, I write my name and the current year inside the front cover. With the exception of school books and other necessitating circumstances, I don’t write my name in books until I read them because I don’t think I can “own” a story until I have at least read it. Writing the year is a way to connect books to their time and place in my personal life; some of my favorite titles already have multiple dates accompanying the initial inscription.

 

As 2011 came to a close, the last book I finished was a new twist on an old tale. Despite a younger targeted age group, I decided to check out Lost Trail: Nine Days Alone in the Wilderness, a graphic novel based on the older book Lost on a Mountain in Maine”. It was a quick read, and a fun way to explore local history through a new lens.

2012 started with another quick but wonderful read– the new edition of Michael Pollan’s Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual. I am a huge fan of Pollan’s philosophies, but I had yet to delve into his actual writing, and this was a pleasant and light-hearted introduction. It offers about 75 simple suggestions for eating healthfully and is accompanied by beautiful illustrations by Maira Kalman. His attitude toward enforces my personal goals surrounding food: eat simple and real foods, enjoy preparing and cooking as much eating food, and relax and celebrate while you eat. I highly recommend this title to anyone trying to become more aware of food culture; it is a refreshing reminder that we have more than one choice out there!

Today, I wrote both my last “2011” and my first “2012” in books. I’m looking forward to continuing to read my way through my bookshelf and continue to collect new great titles this year! Any suggestions?