Warm vs. Cool {and a truckload of things that inspire me}

You know those quizzes that ask all sorts of silly things and require you to squeeze your great big self and all you are into a few tiny traits?

Find out: Are you a Charlotte or a Carrie?  Are you a body language decoder or dork?  What kind of Female are you?  (That one is actually real, which scares the heck out of me because the Powers that Be have decided all women fall into four categories.  Yeah - that sounds plausible.)

As if I can define myself in one of four absolute statements:
Choose one.

I could see myself as the CEO of a company one day.

I often find it hard to make decisions about the direction I want my life to take.

I've fantasized about my ideal fairytale wedding.

I'm not looking for a serious relationship at this point in my life.

Yes, because a person can't simultaneously dream about a wedding and imagine being a CEO.  Thank you for your infinite wisdom, random Cosmo writers. 

Typically, I don't subscribe to anything that breaks us down so simplistically - because, let's face it, there's just more to us than absolutes - but when it comes to decor, there are a few categories I find myself falling into. 

For example, I find that I am attracted to warm colors - specifically, the autumn ones. 

I'm naturally drawn to those colors up there.  The red, the orange, the gold, the green.  Earthy tones and simple, comfy furniture without much pattern.  Dark wood.  Love.

It's easy to see how that played out in our old house, which was practically a shrine to the autumn hues.

Yes, I'm definitely an autumn.  Better than a Charlotte or a Carrie, I suppose...

See what I mean?  Those warm colors.  Dark wood furniture with some wraught iron touches. Slightly Tuscan influences.  Everything clearly crafted and fabricated.

 

It's so funny to me to look at these pictures now.  Because, as much as I loved that house (and I did,  tons) it's not the direction things have gone in our new home.  My tastes have completely evolved and changed - I don't think I've brought a single one of the shades or influences from our old home to our new one.  (Which does make things a little interesting, because we still have the same furniture and furnishings we did before.  We're working with what we've got as much as possible, since we don't have an unlimited budget.)

 

Instead, I'm going as far in the other direction as it is possible to go.  All of a sudden, I'm into cool colors.  Especially blues, which are something completely foreign to me. Like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And colors based in grey:

 

 

 

 

 

With slightly farm-house, vintage industrial, craftsman/DIY influences:

 

 

I adore this kitchen.  More on this later, when you actually see our kitchen.

 

 

 

And pops of color.  Like, bright color and painted furniture. 

 

 

Her house, which I absolutely love for oh so many reasons.  Like the entry below.  Who couldn't love it?

 

 

 

I'm also loving words on walls (and cushions, chalkboards, signs... pretty much anywhere) and anything that is personalized.

 

 

 

Especially Monograms:

 

 

Not to mention, hooks, chevron stripes, light fixtures (aaaah, don't even get me started on the light fixtures.  I'm obsessed), baskets, particularly wire baskets, and anything that evokes a feeling of the past.  I'm a whole new version of my former self. 

 

 

It will be very interesting to see where it all leads. 

 

What looks are you loving?  How have your tastes changed over time?  If you had an unlimited budget and oozed talent and creativity, what would be the first project in your home?

Things you asked, episode II

Sidenote: Are you digging the Roman numeral instead of number 2 in the title of this post?  Does it make you feel all Star Wars-y and nostalgic?  Wondering if this post is going to start scrolling down your screen while dramatic music plays?

(Seriously, how much did you think that the music was going to start playing while you were scrolling.  I know what you're thinking.)

Although it does bum me out that my Star Wars reference is about Episode II, since it is inarguably the worst movie of the entire series (besides I and III, that is) and gave us all a serious case of PTSD.

Case in point?

Yeah, thanks for nothing, George Lucas.  And don't even get me started on the CGI Banthas.  As if the world couldn't have done without the giant alien offspring of the snuffleupagus and a yak.

+

 

=

 

 

Okay... so... back on topic after my slightly embarassing Nerd rant.

I'm cleaning out my inbox and trying to answer a few of the things you've asked recently.  If you don't see your question or have any others, feel free to e-mail them to me at melissa.strassner@gmail.com.  I'm super serious about answering this time (for realsies - in a timely manner, even). 

Episode II:
You sorta seem like you're pregnant.  Are you?  Any baby plans in the works now that Logan is turning one?

Aw, thank you!  To the (sadly, more than one or two) people who asked me this question, I'm not going to assume that you saw a photo of me and concluded, dang!  She must be knocked up again! Although I'm fatter flattered you'd come to such a conclusion. 

No, I'm pretty sure it was me talking about the third time around that threw you off, since those questions mostly came in after this post.  So to put it definitively to rest:

NO, I am not pregnant. 

YES, we would like to have another.

NO, it will not be any time soon.

I am on a bit of a back to nature kick, what with the bread making and the growing stuff in the back yard and the cloth diapers, and one of the things we are experimenting with right now is natural family planning.  I'm learning a ton, and while I certainly don't recommend it if you're a teenager or not ready for the serious possibility of a baby, I'm kind of on board with not putting all this junk in your body. (By the way, I know this link is a pitch, but if you google some of the dangerous side effects of birth control, you might start to reconsider your position too.)

In a perfect world, we're looking forward to taking the kids to Disneyland next fall before trying for #3.  (They will be four and two... perfect ages for the Happiest Place on Earth!!!)  God willing, next year at about this time I'll get pregnant again and in 2015 the kids will have another sibling.  However, given that I'm not taking any synthetic methods to perfectly prevent it, the truth is that we're in a place where our "plan" might not come to pass. 

Incidentally, I had a bit of a scare two months ago that brought up just this issue.  Nothing came of it (a good thing, considering I'm still nursing and looking forward to someday again having more than 6 hours of sleep), but it forced both Casey and me to confront how we feel about having another baby.

The result? 

It turns out that - in case you haven't caught on before now - I love babies.  I'm not sure the day will ever come that I won't think this process is just the most amazing miracle.  And we both reached the conclusion that should we get pregnant, we will regard it as a huge blessing.  Another baby would absolutely not be an accident, even if it wasn't planned. 

In all honesty, it's a really nice place to be.  We're both incredibly content about our family, and excited to see what the future holds. 

Unless Casey actually got that secret vasectomy... in which case, I'm so using my Jedi mind tricks to make you forget that you ever read this. 

Things you asked, episode 1

I'm not especially good at responding to technology.

As in, my phone sits more often than not in my purse without ever once being looked at through the course of the day.  My e-mail is viewed at random and forgotten just as quickly.  I'm not one who subscribes to the idea that we have to be accessible 24/7.  

It's a flaw, for sure.  It's not very polite, and is definitely off-putting to some of my more tech savvy friends.  I can just hear the hair flip now: ugh, she didn't respond to my text and it has been an entire day!  Whatever, major loser!  She must hate me!  Well I hate her first.  I'm going to go buy some toilet paper to TP her house!

So in the interest of self preservation, and saving myself from having to fish soggy TP out of my tree, it's time to respond to some of the e-mails you have sent me.  Most of them are questions, which I will answer as honestly as I can.  And, in the mean time, I'm committed to checking my e-mail more frequently than once a month (just in case you have any more): melissa.strassner@gmail.com.  So ask away.

Episode 1:
I am not a baker, but I like your idea about baking bread.  What kind of bread machine do you use and where do you find your recipes?  Any tips for the reluctant baker?

Dear Reluctant Baker,

Here's the thing about baking bread: If I can do it, anyone can.  Honest. 

I use this machine:

Welbilt 4400

Which is the same model my grandmother had when I was growing up.  She found one at a garage sale and gifted it to me, and if it's any indication, I can't even find it on Amazon.  This one seems like it might be pretty close, but since I can't vouch for any other model than my circa-1995 one, I really couldn't advise you. 

Grandma also gifted me this book, which I love even though the recipes aren't designed for my bread machine.  I'm pretty sure it is for a Wolfgang Puck machine that can be purchased on HSN, because I absolutely did not come by my sick obsession with HSN on my own.  That was definitely an inherited trait which might have skipped a generation, since my mom doesn't seem to be afflicted. 

I usually make white bread, because A) it's easy and B) it's yummy.  Yes, that's the depth of my reasoning on the issue.  Here is a very simple recipe that has been modified to fit my machine.

White Sandwich Bread
1 cup water
1 TSPN apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP sugar
1/2 TBSP kosher salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
2 heaping TSPN bread machine yeast

Here's where it gets tricky: Add all ingredients into the bread machine IN THE ORDER listed.  Select "Basic" and "Light" from the menu.  WALK AWAY from the bread machine.

So.... maybe not so tricky after all, right? 

I'm not a bread connoisseur and I'm not especially picky, but this is a solid and tasty loaf.  My only struggle with home bread making is the cutting part.  I suck at slicing the bread, and even with my electric knife my slices were all falling apart and uneven and looked like they had been cut by the love child of Freddy Krugar and Leatherface.  The tops were bigger than the bottoms, and every piece was a different size. It wasn't going to work.

To solve this probelm, I simply take my home-baked loaf to my local grocery store and ask the good folks at the bakery to run it through their slicer.  It works every time, and even though the guy at the checker line always tries to find a barcode and ring it up, we've never had a problem when I explain to him that I'm not stealing it.  Ta-Da!  Evenly sliced, home-baked bread.

Delicious. 

If this is something you're interested in but not sure about, I'd say just go for it.  Bread machines are not terribly expensive if you go about them the right way (although like anything else, they can get outrageously costly.  Think about your needs and budget and buy smart.  Don't be afraid of a used one at a great price!).  To make a single loaf, it seems like an expensive process, but if you do it regularly it's downright economical in the long run.  Don't be afraid to play with the recipe, either.  My original recipes were turning out way too heavy and dense, so I simply cut the flour and the yeast until I figured out a consistency that works for me and my family.  If you ruin a loaf in the process, so be it.  Make another!  That's the great thing about this. 

Plus, there is simply nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread.  It's sooooo awesome.

Let me know if you try it, or if you have any tips or tricks of your own.

Plunge.

Remember that scene at the beginning of Mary Poppins where the weathervane changes directions?  The admiral dutifully discharges his cannon and everyone has to run around trying to collect their valluables so they don't crash onto the floor, and then all those horrible and boring looking nannies are swept away? 

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, let me just refresh your memory:

(And by the way, how many days would I like to Mary Poppins my three year old and reply, "first of all, I would like to make one thing quite clear: I never explain anything."  Take THAT, 816 whys before breakfast.)

There was a change in the winds, and the world was turned upside down for the better.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is a change in the winds coming here in our home.  I'm drawn to very different things these days than I have ever been in the past.  I feel the urge to make and create in ways I've never experienced before. 

It started innocently enough with making my own baby food three years ago. 

Then I began to see the light and we put cloth diapers on our baby boy.

Then there was a little food revolution that has me making my own bread and carefully reading the labels on products.

I'm simplifying.  And by simplifying, I mean making things one thousand times more complicated than they used to be.  {And hopefully, one thousand times better.}

It's very gratifying, all this self-sufficiency.  It's making me itch to create and produce and design; to leave my fingerprints (and, moreoftenthannot, Casey's too) on our home and life. 

I bought herbs.  Me.  The one who makes plants scream and throw their hands in front of their faces to protect themselves: get away!  We saw what you did to the Daylilly!  Murder! For the record, they are currently growing happily in the backyard, thankyouverymuch.  (Okay, full disclosure: I killed one.  One!  It was the runt of the litter, and positively asking for it with its sassy mouth.)

I have this fabric sitting in our dining room.  I love it, because it's yellow and yellow reminds me of happiness.

 

 

But it's just fabric.  A blank canvas, waiting for someone to shape it into something.  A year ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of buying fabric.  Who me?  Make something?  Out of nothing?!  Not when I could buy it, premade, from any one of these fabulous stores!

Still, here it sits.  Expectant.

And me without a sewing machine.  As Dorothy would say, what would you do with a sewing machine if you had one?  To which I would answer...
                                                ... 
                                                      ...
                                                           ...... I have no idea......

But, a year ago, my camera intimidated the crap out of me, too. {Didja see those pictures up there?  I took those!} A year ago, I thought I was going to break my baby if I put him in cloth diapers.  {He's never yet had so much as diaper rash.} Two months ago, I'd only used my bread machine once and couldn't concieve of baking a loaf people could actually eat. {We haven't purchased store bread since June.}

We can learn and move forward, or we can sit still and gather dust.  And I don't like me no dust.

There is a change in the winds, a change in me and the way I'm thinking about our life and home and family.  Prepackaged just isn't cutting it anymore. 

It's exciting.  And challenging.  And a little scary.  The status quo has got to go (catchy, right?  Hey-Hey! Ho-Ho! Can't you just see the signs and protesters now?).

We're taking the plunge.  I'm not sure yet where it's going to lead us.  Maybe nowhere... maybe not. 

That's the neat thing about a change in the winds.

Eleven.

It's difficult for me to believe we've come to this point already.  It seems like just yesterday it was August and I was looking forward to his arrival. 

Almost an entire year has passed with our little guy - and oh it goes so fast!

At 11 months:

Logan weighs 21.8 pounds.  Wears size 3 diapers (when he wears disposables) and size 3 shoes.  That's right, he's reached the shoe-wearing phase of life.

He is hanging on by a thread in his 12 month clothing.  I am pretty sure he's going to last the summer, but for fall I'll definitely buy 18 mo.  He's not quite long enough for them yet, but getting him in and out of the 12 months is more and more challenging by the day.

{18 months - don't they fit nicely on our not yet one year old?!}

He is loving anything that allows him to stand.  Chairs, tables, walkers, cabinets, Mommy's legs... he's not particular.  As long as he can pull himself up, it's a winner in his book.

 

I've even caught him standing independently on an occassion (or two).

 

 

He has mastered the "traditional" crawl, as opposed to his army crawl.  Now, he barrels straight-armed across the floor.  It reminds me of a certain German dictator everytime he picks up his arms, except it's totally cute (and completely non-threatening).

He's a total whirlwind of motion.  I love these pictures:

 

...because they very acurately capture how difficult it is to take pictures of my little tornado. 

 

He still loves sister.

 

Pretty much more than anyone else.

 

 

If he could, he would do everything big sis does.  He desperately wants to be big.  He loves to swim, to dance, and he is a seriously good singer.  The kid can match pitch legitimately. 

His most frequented words are Mama, Daddy, Sis, This, That and Doggy.  If you are small and furry - anything from a bunny to a Sesame Street puppet - you shall be dubbed "Doggy."  If you ask him how old he is, he will hold up one finger. 

He also now gesticulates.  A lot.  He's super serious, and he wants everyone to know it.  "THIS!"pointyfinger for emphasis.  "THAT!"hand out Don'tCryForMeArgentina-style.  We're either raising the next JFK, or he'll become some sort of dramatic Shakespearean actor.

Pretty much the day after he turned 10 months, he gave up eating mashed baby food.  He now eats all the big boy stuff, and is downright insulted if you offer him soft fruit.  He'd much prefer the entire apple - that's right, the whole thing.

He still nurses 4 times a day, but (don't tell him) this will be ending tomorrow.  He's going on cow's milk, and we'll see how that goes.  I imagine he won't be giving it up without a fight.

He takes two naps and sleeps from about 7 to 5:15 on the dot.  I think we're about ready for the one nap transition, which might encourage him to sleep a little longer in the morning (please, please please love: tired mommy).

He loves to ride in the car and does a great job when we're out and about.  I can't tell you how many comments I get on how sweet and smiley he is, and it's true.  He is a little ham when we're in public, even though he does that cute little coy smile and look away gig when strangers talk to him. 

He has the greatest relationship with his grandpa.  Those two are just peas in a pod.  I love it, and I think he looks an awful lot like grandpa.

He is so silly, and is still enjoying his play time and anything having to do with toys.

 

 

He is a very, very good helper.  He adores the dishwasher, and likes to be involved when I'm in the kitchen.  Which, by the way, makes everything super easy on the dinner front.

 

 

He gives the greatest kisses, and lots of them.  He likes to suck and make the POPing sound when he gives kisses, so you're sure to come away with a lot of slobber love.

He truly is one of the most sweet and affectionate little guys I've ever met.  He is in a hugely adventurous phase of life, and I'm sure it's going to result in a tired mommy and quite a few ouchies, but it is so much fun to watch him take on the world.

We are so beyond blessed to have this boy in our family.  Boys are awfully special, and we think our little guy is tops.

Even if all my pictures are blury...

 

 

Happy 11 months to my beautiful baby boy!  WE LOVE YOU!!!!