Under the Arch

I had a bad feeling in the middle of the afternoon, but shook it off as pms induced paranoia. When I returned home, however, there were no meows at the door that demanded attention, and no curious creature came when I called. Hello, panic.

My cat is an escape artist. She regularly demands the freedom of my balcony for the stalking of birdies and lording her magnificence over the neighbors. Though I usually keep the screen door to the balcony securely latched, I must have , in my hurry to get out the door that day, forgotten to check it, and my curious and quite fearless kitty pushed it open so that she could sun herself.

As clever as she thinks she is, returning to the safety of the apartment is not something she has mastered. (There is nothing funnier than a quiet “mew” and a lone feline leg streeeetching through the crack left by a partially open door that won’t quite open wide enough for said cat’s head.) So, I can imagine the hours stretched on as I refused to return to open the stubborn door that came between her and her food bowl, and the mounting frustration as no one came to her rescue. What I’m NOT sure of, is how she managed to get down from a second story balcony with nothing more to show for it than a scratch on her nose.

After a fruitless search of the immediate neighborhood, and questioning of two neighbors too drunk to remember the conversation later, my housemate spotted her crouched in some brush in the backyard, which I had to crawl into and drag her back out. An hour later, we were still ignoring each other, both steamed at the worry we had caused each other.

Damn cat.

Hi! I've been busy but I'm getting closer to normal and quiet. (yay!) I'm officially moving this weekend, so I'm pretty much covered in paint in my free time. I took a couple of photos the other night of my progress and am sharing with you now. (Don't you feel special?)

 

 

As you can see, I kind of have a thing for color. ;)

 

This one is from the opposite direction so you can see the far wall. No, it's not black, that is chalkboard paint, which I am unbelievably excited about. By the time I'm done, the walls through the apartment with be blue, pink, yellow, and green. ;) More coming soon!

First, I would like to say if you've sent me an email or other such internet based message and I haven't responded, I apologize. I can't remember the last time I checked my email and I haven't been on twitter in weeks. I've hit a point where my real life is more interesting than my internet one, and I've spent all my spare time playing with friends and enjoying the sunshine when it graces me with its presence.

Because of this, I won't be going to BlogHer this year, even though it's only a few hours away. I will probably go to Chicago this summer (IKEA is calling my name) and my friend Will and I are tentatively planning a road trip to California at some point, where he has promised to teach me how to surf.

I had jury duty last week, but I'm all talked out about it, so I won't say anything more than it sucks ass, and if I ever get it again, it better be a civil case this time. (Oh, and if you were as dismayed as I was to find out that knitting needles aren't allowed, I found that no one says anything if they're plastic.)

I had to finally get mean with the jealous ex-boyfriend. A couple of days ago, he essentially said that he thought something would happen between us further down the line. I as bluntly as possible told him that wasn't going to happen. He didn't take it well and spouted the bullshit that guys say when their pride is wounded. I'm beginning to realize that this is a typical reaction and after I stopped laughing, I was just relieved that it was over and I don't have to placate him anymore. (Lies said to hurt or undermine someone's confidence piss me off like you wouldn't believe.) I decided to be the better person and not tell him what I really think. ;)

I also forgot to tell you that I'm moving, which is something else that has kept me busy. My friend Will lives on the next street over and his building is cheaper than mine, so he talked me into moving into the apartment above him. No more ghetto neighbors with a crying baby below me using my washing machine! It's actually a slightly bigger apartment with a different set-up, which will work well with my furniture. We already have big plans to build raised garden beds in the backyard for flowers and veggies. I spent most of the day today sorting and packing, I should be in the new digs by the end of April.

You probably noticed that I haven't posted any photos for a long time. It's not that I don't have photos to share, it's just that my computer won't let me show them. Trying to work with photos, even uploading them slows my laptop down so much I can't do anything. So, I'm computer shopping with my tax refund and I'm hoping to remedy that soon. ;)

Every once in a while I get a wild hair to move furniture and completely rearrange my apartment. And since doing such makes everything worse before it gets better, my apartment is messier than normal, war zone comes to mind. ;) The vacuum has been running, the cat is traumatized, and my bed is now on the other side of the room. (The same place I put it when I moved into the apartment last summer.*rolling eyes*) Why do I do this? It's like I'm nesting or something, but I've done it countless times since childhood, like if I move this piece of furniture or maybe that one, the room will suddenly seem bigger or flow better. Or maybe I really am just trying to make room for my shoes. ;) Since you saw my kitchen a couple of weeks ago, and I spent all that time arranging and rearranging furniture today, and y'all are nosy, I thought I'd show you what my bedroom looks like.

From the doorway...

From sitting on the bed.....

Most of my heels.....

Flats hanging on the back of my closet door. (It's a teeny tiny closet, which is why I have a clothing rack for dresses and pants.)

 

I'm still not completely done, there are photos that have been sitting in a box that need to be hung on the wall and two more of those frames for my jewelry. (I'll tell you about those later.) Oh, and the other window needs curtains now that the bed isn't up against it. A few odds and ends though, and I can move on to the living room, I have this really neat idea for the coffee table, but I'm making myself finish cleaning up the mess I made before I do that. My life. Fascinating, isn't it? ;)

Heh. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Pervs. (And can someone explain why I always want to spell magic with a J?)

As promised, I'm going to show you my kitchen. Brace yourselves.

My stove...EXCITING! The white counter type thing next to the stove I made myself...which is why it wobbles. I would never make it as a carpenter, basically. ;) Yes, that is a grill pan, which I LOVE. The kitchen doodads, including the magnetic knife thingy, I bought at IKEA, of course. This is my attempt at organization..here's the other.

Spices, salt and pepper shakers, my cute little diner sugar dispenser, and more spoons. SPOOONS!! Yeah...I don't know either. ;)

So, this is why I have to be sort of organized...

Cause these are the only cabinets I have, aaannnnd a sink full of dishes. You do remember THIS post, don't you? Messy. I hate doing dishes. Ugh. But, the point is, there are 2 tiny bits of counter top and that's it. Which would be great if I didn't, you know, cook. So, the wobbly counter bit is born. ;)

Ok, look away from the dishes. Look in my fridge. Come on...stop looking already, geesh!

Fascinating isn't it? Geesh, I should throw out that pizza box. I can see bacon and icing, cream cheese, butter, eggs, cheese, sliced ham, and some left over chicken, which now that I think about it, should be thrown out too. Ok, another angle.

Um, bacon grease, garlic, spaghetti sauce, chicken broth, bbq sauce, catalina dressing, which is a really excellent marinade for chicken....basically I need to go to the grocery store, I'm out of milk and juice and potatoes.

I'm feeling really naked now, I hope you're happy. ;) So share, what's in your fridge? What's your favorite thing in your kitchen? (LOVE that grill pan!)

I was going to go out for dinner. I didn't really feel like cooking and I would have to thaw something out, blah blah blah LAZY! But, then I remembered the cans of crescent roll dough in the fridge and thought, "What can I wrap that around that would taste good?" Mmmm, chicken! Just like that, Fajita Chicken Wraps are born! I knew it could be horrible, but I photographed everything anyway and intended to blog whatever happened. Just my luck, they tasted good, huh? First, as PW always does, the cast of characters:

Ortega taco sauce (which I decided to just use after cooking if it needed a kick), pepper, salt, fajita seasoning packet, olive oil (which I keep in squeeze bottles, an idea I saw on the food network), shredded cheese, crescent roll dough, and chicken(I buy meat in bulk and divide into individual freezer bags for meals)

Start with your chicken: I just turned the burner on medium and squirted out enough oil to keep the chicken from sticking.

Brown your chicken(whatever you have),and season with salt and pepper.

When the chicken is cooked through, lower the heat and tear apart with a fork.

Add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and sprinkle the fajita seasoning in(I used about a 1/3 of the packet, the packet is enough for 1 pound of chicken) Stir until the seasoning is dissolved and simmer until it thickens to a sauce. Turn off heat.

Open the can of dough and unroll. Tear off a triangle.

Place a bite or two of chicken and a pinch of shredded cheese in each one and roll up.

Like this. If I had had some veggies, peppers and onions, I would have used them, being careful to cook the veggies down to get as much water out as possible. But, this was a spur of the moment dish and this is what I had.

When you have them all rolled up, arrange in a greased baking dish and sprinkle some more cheese. (If you use a full pound of chicken, you'll need 2 cans of crescent rolls and a 9x13 baking dish.) Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees until the crescents are golden brown. Mine took about 20 minutes.

Almost done

Yum!! Served with some canned sweet corn and a smidge of tace sauce that I didn't even need. These little babies were super easy and would make good party food I think. Once they cooled some, I could pick them up and eat them like a homemade hot pocket. lol Makes me feel all domestic!

Now I'm thinking all kinds of things that would be good in there; bacon, bbq pork, pepperoni...the possibilities are endless!

I have a Naked Monday for you today, that I have to admit, may scare some of you. The ugly truth...is that I'm a slob. I'll admit it. I am incredibly absent minded and the more stressed I get, the messier my  apartment gets. I've been pretty stressed lately. The totaled car, school starting up again, my big trip, a change in regime at work, and waiting for a new job to start has put me on edge lately and my home suffers for it. Prepare yourself, people, here is my living room.

This was taken tonight, from the vantage point of my kitchen. What you can't see to the right is the door that leads downstairs and out, to the left is the TV. That's my couch that my best friend, Dan gave me when he joined the Army. It has a slipcover to protect it from my cat, the rest of it is the ugly blue plaid of those cushions. I've always intended to make some slipcovers for the cushions to match the curtains, but haven't gotten around to it. The  curtains in the background are from IKEA. I love them and would like to paint the walls the same color as the blue stripe, the bright colors and modern print make me happy. The coffee table in front is also from IKEA. The top is decoupaged with a world map, an idea I saw on the internet somewhere. The coffee table is covered in various papers, and most of my jewelry that never made it back to the bedroom after my trip. That's my laptop on the couch, which should be on the little desk right behind it, but the only chair that I have that works with the desk is quite hard and all the time I spend with the interwebs makes it too hard on the bum. ;) I can see the phone book I was using earlier, a couple of magazines, some books and the chocolate I bought in Ghirardelli Square. Under the throw blanket on the couch are some more books, yarn and probably some mail that should be opened. Scared yet? ;) I'm off work the next two days, maybe I'll have the energy to tackle this mess...or maybe not. ;) So, here's my question for you this week....are you a neat freak? A slob? Or somewhere in between?

• pretty sure my neighbor stole food out of my grocery bags right off my front porch
• went to a meeting of the St. Louis Bloggers Guild this morning
• I joined, though I haven't put the badge up, yet
• I was hungover
• I don't think anyone noticed
• I had been out the night before celebrating a coworker's new job
• Her brother tried to impress me by buying me shots
• Vodka is bad for me
• So is Red Bull
• Did I say that vodka is bad for me?
• Good
• It bears repeating a few more times
• I had fun and hadn't expected to
• I paid for it today
• Naps are good
• Vodka is bad
• I now have hot dogs buns but no hot dogs
• I find that really annoying
• Typical....day starts out good and ends weird

I still didn't have any photos or art for my kitchen and I thought...why don't I go to Soulard and take pictures of produce, see what I can come up with? So, I did. Wanna see? Why, of course you do! :) These are my favorites, all the photos I took today are also on Flickr.

If you missed it on the twitter, I called my landlord yesterday to tell him about the ghetto neighbors who have caused me never-ending grief. At 4:30am I was woken up from a dead sleep to hear "You Fucking Bitch!!!" and a thump. Terrified, I laid in my bed, waiting for my heart to stop racing so that I could go back to sleep. It took a while.

I was exhausted all day at work and it took me 3 tries to count down my cash drawer. I was so frustrated, I was nearly in tears. By the time I left, I was done. I wasn't going to just take it anymore. They shouldn't be able to pull this crap without consequences.

I called my landlord before I even started the car and told him how frustrated I was, how often I had been woken up by their nonsense, how I had contemplated calling the police, and why I hadn't. He promised to talk to her and that he would tell her it was next door who had complained about noise. He also said that if it ever happened again, I should call him and if it ever seemed like the fighting was getting out of hand, I should definitely call the police.

When I got home, I talked to the woman who lives in the end apartment (she shares a wall with them) and told her what I had done. Turns out, she called the landlord, too, the very same day! Here's hoping they get kicked out, or at least aren't allowed to renew their lease.

To hear about the crap that they've been pulling, you can read here, and here.