The Pinterest Challenge

I confess. I am an avid YHL reader and Pinterest addict. One day, I came across this picture and I knew I had to make it. It was the perfect solution to my makeup storage woes. I like my makeup to be easily accessible. I had been storing it in a basket/makeup bag/cup on the shelves over my toilet. But this left me with no working space, the constant need to riffle through my bag to find what I needed, and the fear of things falling in the toilet. Not good. This board would allow me to store everything in one place and be able to see all my options at once. Plus I could easily use one item, put it away, and move on to the next one. The Pinterest Challenge over on YHL was just the impetus I needed to get my butt moving on this project.

I started by looking for a frame. I checked Goodwill and a few thrift stores but everything was too small, not the right look, or way too expensive. I wanted something under $30 because I wanted to keep the total project cost under $50 and I knew paint, fabric, sheet metal, and magnets would add up quickly. I kept coming up empty-handed. Almost on the verge of giving up, I decided to check out some ready to go magnet board options. Leave it too Ikea! For $9.99 I got this round Spontan magnetic board in black.

This definitely took things in a more modern direction and made the covering part rather more difficult. Instead of covering the whole surface, I decided I rather liked the black and wanted it to show. A stop at A.C. Moore got me this scrap book paper which coordinated with the other colors in my bathroom perfectly. And it was just $0.50 a sheet.

I also made a quick stop at Lowe's and obtained a few different kinds of magnets for about $13. Using the ever classic Aleene's Original Tacky Glue, I attached magnets to all my makeup products. I allowed about 12 hours of dry time before attempting to use them and then I stuck them on the board and tested their sturdiness for about 24 hours before I hung anything up. It was a good thing I did as a few needed sturdier magnets then I had chosen and would have had quite a long fall on to the tile floor otherwise. After I retested my magnets and everything held up, I hung my magnet board with three screws as directed. Now it was time to decorate.

After playing around with my scrap paper, I decided to cut something out of it to attach to the board. I choose flowers to echo the flowers on the shower curtain across the room. I simply flipped the paper over and free-handed a few large flowers and leaves and then cut them out. I attached them to the board using some glue dots I already had on hand. Finally, I just stuck my makeup up! Instead of attaching cups like my inspiration project, I used glasses on top of a nearby shelf to hold brushes and pencils. Here's the finished project. Total cost? A little under $25. Not too bad!

Exploring Old City

This week, one of my best friends from college, Sharyn is visiting me. So far, we've had a blast exploring my neighborhood. As the weather has gotten nicer, I've found myself getting out more often and exploring all of the great things Old City has to offer. So in honor of the wonderful neighborhood I've come to love, I've decided to post my top ten favorite spots in Old City. In no particular order because that would involve WAY too much thought.

The Book Trader- This is possibly the most awesome used book shop ever. It has long been a Philly favorite for me. I recently discovered that the wonderful store down the street from me was previously located on South Street, where it was probably one of my favorite stores to visit in the city. I just rediscovered a classic. The Book Trader is filled to overwhelming with books making it both thrilling and frightening at times. Check it out for yourself in Lauren Graham's upcoming movie, The Dream of the Romans.

Franklin Fountain- This ice cream shop is my new favorite place to take friends and visitors. It's decked out like a classic soda fountain, right down to the working old style phone and cash register. Best of all, the ice cream is delicious and unique (yay for green tea!). They also have all the old classics like malts, egg creams, and phosphates. And they're open till midnight on the weekends. Everything the discerning urban ice cream eater could ever want.

Christ Church- Founded in 1695, this church is well...old. The current building was begun in 1744. I can see the steeple, which made Christ Church the tallest building in America for something like 60 years, from the windows in my apartment. Christ Church is like living history. See the pews of Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross, George Washington, or one of countless other historical figures who attended here. Touch the almost 600 year old baptismal font where William Penn was baptized which is still in use today. Or just attend a Sunday service to take in the beauty of the colonial architecture while listening to the majestic sounds of the organ and congregational singing. Every time I see this building, it makes my heart feel light.

Kabul Restaurant- Now that I've tried Afghan cuisine, I can't get enough! With an extensive menu, quiet dining room, and decent service, Kabul keeps me coming back for more. So far, I've eaten here 4 times and everything I've tried has been amazing. If you haven't tried Afghan food, go out and find some today!

Old City Cheese Shop- After walking by this place at least a 100 times, I finally stopped in today for lunch. To my utter delight, we entered down a strange indoor hallway only to arrive in the most lovely little courtyard in Old City. It's located behind the shop with its own street entrance so you have to keep your eyes out for it. But if you do, a treasure awaits you. The patio is completely shaded by a beautiful, tall tree. The courtyard is further enhanced by a softly trickling fountain and some potted plants. If that wasn't enough to convince, the food was fabulous. And they have something like 70 varieties of cheese for your post-lunch shopping pleasure. They also do brunch on the weekends, an all-you-can-eat pasta night, and late night movies in the courtyard.

The Ritz Theaters- Listing this as one is kind of cheating because there are actually 3 Ritz Theaters within 3 blocks of my apartment. But they are generally the same idea. Small theaters show indie and art films for significantly less then the nearby megaplex. Can't beat it. Another thing I've been meaning to do forever and finally did today. We saw In Brogues, which I highly recommend anyway. I think I'll definitely be making more frequent visits.

Scarlett Alley- Despite its pushy sales people, this quirky little shop is a must see. It's full of interesting home goods, accessories, kids stuff, clothing, jewelery, and toiletry items. I would be thrilled to own everything and anything from the store. My all time favorite items in the store are the Bamboo Dreams collection. You've got to feel it to believe it.

Tartes- A pink concrete box never held such delectable goodness. This bakery is probably one of the smallest structures in Old City but somehow still manages to whip out pastries that could make your knees quiver. Just step up to the window, reminiscent of an ice cream stand at the shore, and place your order. In no time, your mouth will be watering. There is no inside and no seating outside which is disappointing, but since it's only half a block away, I don't have far to go before I can dig into my dessert.

F.U.E.L. Collection- This gallery is the easiest place to find a hipster in the city of Philadelphia. It's my favorite gallery to visit during First Friday, the monthly Old City art gallery hop. Located in the historic Corn Exchange Bank building, which was also the site of the Philadelphia Real World house, this gallery is expansive. It hosts some of the hippest, cutting edge art produced by undergraduate students and is a mecca for cool people, hanging out and well...looking cool. It's a great place to soak up some awesome.

Lucy's Hat Shop- Despite many other options, Lucy's is probably my favorite place in Old City to grab a drink. Unassuming, unpretentious, and cheap. You can wear what you want and you'll fit in. With amazing always on special drinks and snacks, you really can't go wrong at Lucy's plus, it's huge so you can usually find a table or an uncrowded corner to stand in. And at only a block away, there's no need to worry about a designated driver.

So there you have it! My ultimate list of places to eat, drink, shop, and visit in Old City. I could easily do a top 20 list, but these are the places I find myself going back to and wanting to show to others. So visit one, visit all and fall in love with my wonderful neighborhood, Old City Philadelphia.

A Day of Pictures

Since I uploaded pictures last night, I figured I'd share some of them with you today. I'm really enjoying Picasa2 and the ease of uploading to and using their web albums feature. I also just discovered you can embed slide shows. I feel all high tech.

These are some pictures of a walk in the woods at home that I took back in September. It's also how I got the 70 some bug bites I previously mentioned- probably chiggers. Yuck. But it was worth it!

Here a few more random pictures from October on.

Thanksgiving Update

Things have been moving along nicely here at the apartment. We have a few final things to do in terms of the setting up/unpacking/moving in and we're about to move in to the decorating phase this weekend. Life is starting to feel a bit more settled which is good since Kim started her job this Monday and I start this coming Monday. It's been a bit of a trial with getting paperwork sent where it needed to, but everything seems to have come through and I should have my practice permit on Saturday, just in the nick of time. We'll probably also be decorating for Christmas, which is always a highlight. I can't believe how quickly Christmas is coming up! It seems like only yesterday it was Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving, we had dinner at my parent's house. When I was younger, we had Thanksgiving at our house almost every year with both sets of grandparents. Then my mom's parents moved to Florida so it was just my dad's parents. Then my dad's parents got a new, bigger house and so my grandmother starting cooking dinner for the whole family again. Which was nice and all, but everyone besides us would already have eaten at their other in-laws house so then my grandmother would just complain about how no one ate her food. So since my grandfather has been sick this year, she threw in the towel and my mom and I got to make Thanksgiving. It was fun and with only minor arguments, my mom and I pulled off a fantastic dinner. My dad even pitched in by deep frying the turkey. And I am telling you it was to die for! Most of the family did get together the following Saturday for homemade pizza which was equally yummy in its own way. I'll leave you with a few selected shots of Thanksgiving at the Calimer's.

Thanksgiving

A Not So Bright Spot

Dear Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs:

I love your product. I really do. You help me be a better person. You help me save the environment and lower my carbon footprint. You simultaneously save me money in both your lower energy usage and your mega long life span. You are so wonderful in so many ways.

But you have a major flaw. Why, oh wonderful CFL, must you shatter into so very, very many pieces when broken? Moving is stressful and things are bound to get broken. But compact fluorescent you are truly a problem. Your pieces are so small, like thousands of grains of sand, deadly, sharp grains of sand. Your broken bits have adorned our carpet, shining like tiny flecks of glitter in what little light remains in your wake. We all know how hard glitter is to pick up, and you, my friend, are just as hard. So please, in the future, remain intact. Spare us the death defying clean-ups the the meticulous vacuuming. And live up to your long life potential.

Sincerely,
Caitlin

Three Places at Once

Moving is not a fun endeavor. Especially not prolonged, drug out moving. That is exactly what I'm currently doing. Sadly, I don't even remember where I slept when in the past week. All I know is that in about the last two weeks I haven't spent more then two nights in a row in the same place. My little overnight bag has been perpetually packed. I've actually just been washing the clothes in it over night and then stuffing them back in again and rotating out my pajamas and socks while I'm at my school apartment. Anyway, the moving, it's not so fun.

When I'm at my school apartment, I've been trying to pack things to take to my Philly apartment every time I'm going there. At first this was easy and non-stressful and kind of fun. Then I looked at my google homepage and it said 7 days till furniture moving day. And only time for one trip to Philly between now and then. I've begun to panic. I have too much stuff to move on Saturday. I have to have everything out of the apartment by the walk through on the 20th. I currently am working in 3 piles: take to Philly, store at my parents, or toss/Goodwill. My major question in life is when I do I take the things to my parents? I think these are primarily going to be kitchen essentials and by nature of the fact that they are essential, I can't just pack them up and bring them home till I'm sure that I won't be there and need food. I don't know when that point is. The only thing that I'm sure of next week is that Wednesday at 3pm I will be graduating and giving a speech because I am number 2 in my class (yay!). I've survived nursing school, but somehow I can't handle a move.

This whole moving thing would be much easier if: 1) I didn't currently have possessions in 3 locations separated by an hour. It's hard to decide where you'll need things when you don't even know what you're doing. I currently have a plastic shopping bag of important papers that I don't really know where to leave that I'm shuffling around with me. It's a bad system. 2) I was moving out of a place where I don't have a deadline that is rapidly approaching. I'm not worried about the stuff at my parents. I can move that whenever. 3) I wasn't moving from one third story apartment into another third story apartment an hour and a half away. This makes moving a tiring and slightly exhausting ordeal. And finally 4) If I had some money to buy boxes or remembered to steal some from Kim so I could stop using random backpacks, suitcases, shopping bags, and tote bags from my closet. They don't call me the bag lady for nothing.

I'd like to say this will all be over soon, but really I have no idea when it will be over. The stressful part should be over on the 20th. And hopefully nothing else will go wrong till then.

First Philly

Friday was a very successful day for me! I got a job offer (I'll give more details once it's official) and Kim and I signed the lease on our new apartment. It's official! We're beginning our lives in Philly! Click the picture below to enjoy the photos of our new apartment.

New Apartment

The Many Countdowns

This update is, as everything has been lately, sadly tardy. Much has been happening lately! I thought I'd give you a little picture of the things I'm looking forward to in the near future.

1) 5 days till my first nursing job interview at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
2) 9 days till my last day of nursing school!!
3) 11 days till Kim and I sign the lease on our new apartment in Philadelphia
4) 24 days till commencement activities a.k.a. freedom from Seton Hall
5) 30 days till I am completely and officially moved out of my present apartment :(

As you can see the next month is rather busy indeed. Since I missed posting this when it happened, I'll give you the update on the new apartment in Philly, because that's really the most interesting thing anyway.

On Friday October 12th I had the day off from class for "Fall Break." Whoot, one whole day. Despite what looked like a pitiful showing on Craigslist, Kim and I decided to schedule some appointments to go look at apartments in Philadelphia. We managed to schedule to see 6 apartments in various locations though out the city. The one with the most promise by far was one in Old City. But we'll get there. So we drove into Philly for out first showing at 9:30am. The apartment was ok but a loft and small and in Chinatown which smells. The next apartment we saw the old guy was randomly mean to us and the kitchen was from the 70's. Really. The next apartment was a bargain price and was actually a little better then we expected but by no means what we were looking for. The next apartment was the one in Old City.

It's over a fabulous used book store and just blocks from the major Old City attractions (think Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross House, etc.). The location is more fabulous then we ever thought we could afford. The first apartment we looked at was a nice size, had hardwood floors, but one bedroom was significantly smaller and had no windows. Bummer. Then the landlord mentions that there is actually another apartment and he just find out the guys deposit check bounced, so why don't we take a look? We agree and trot upstairs. This apartment is bi-level. Dream come true. It has a skylight and two big windows in the living area. The kitchen has a bar/pass-through into the living/dining area with cool pendent lighting that hands over it. The bathroom is large and has a lovely large mirror over the sink. The bedrooms are relatively equal in size with nice, equally large closets. And the rooms are not plain boxes but have interesting alcoves and angled walls as one might expect from a 200 year old building. There is a washer/dryer in the bathroom. The living area is on the top floor so neighbors cannot be upset about late night games of Wii tennis or DDR. Dogs are permitted and there is a nice fenced in park nearby to walk them. Each apartment has a 10x10 lockable storage closet in the basement. The only downside? The yucky navy blue industrial looking carpet. Oh well, we can buy area rugs. We leave the apartment, in love with both the building and the landlord.

We went to look at our last apartment and while it is perfectly fine, even nice, it just does not compare to the beautiful bi-level in size, amenities, location, or price. We immediately call the lovable landlord who e-mails us applications and after filling them out and dropping off our deposit, the apartment it being held for us. Unfortunately, the lovable landlord has given Mr. Slacker Bounced Check until 5:30pm to get his money in. We put our deposit in for either apartment with our first choice being the bi-level. Everything must be rushed because he is showing the apartment again at 6:30. We frantically exchange e-mails and calls until finally...we have the bi-level! Yay! The other apartment is also rented that evening. The following week we get e-mails saying that our applications (with the help of our parents as co-signers) have been approved and we can sign the lease November 1st. I am overwhelmed with excitement.

I'm helping Kim move the majority of her stuff in on Nov. 3rd. Which is also the day she takes her math GRE. Will someone else please tell her how crazy this is? I will probably be gradually moving my stuff in starting then with the majority being moved on Nov. 17th. Anyone in the area is more then welcome to lend a hand!

One of the most exciting parts of our new apartment is the fabulous location! Every month Old City hosts First Friday which is an open house for the many art galleries in the area. Music, wine, and cheese abound and with at least 2 art galleries on our block, it's sure to be hopping. It's also conveniently on our move in day this month! What a way to be welcomed into the neighborhood. According to Lonely Planet, Old City also has the densest concentration of liquor licenses anywhere in the U.S. besides New Orleans. See, you really do want to come help us move.

An Inside Look

I realized that I have lived in my apartment for over a year now and I have never really shared pictures! Last night, I straightened up a bit and took some. So now you can see where I've been living for the past year. I have to say, I'm generally pretty proud of it. It's decorated mostly with hand-me downs and bargains, but I think it turned out just right. I've tried really hard to include some sentimental things with things from my travels and all the things I need for everyday life. The result makes me happy and I think that's what really matters.

This is what it looks like when you walk in the front door. You can see our balcony through the sliding glass doors. The door to the left of the sliding glass doors is my bathroom.

This is the dining area and the window into the kitchen. Down the hallway is my roommate's bedroom.

This is our kitchen. The L-shape is great and gives us tons of counter space. We kind of went with a coffee theme.

This is my little area. The bathroom is just to the left. I used a curtain on a tension rod to create an attached bathroom/suite feeling to my room. It also adds some privacy when my roommate has friends over. The banner over the door is Indian and was purchased from Overstock.com's WorldStock store.

Here's the wide angle shot of my bedroom. I think you can definitely see the teal and brown theme I have going.

Here's a more up close shot of my bed. The bed platform, night table, and lamp are all from Walmart and the bedspread is IKEA. The artwork is from Tanzania and the Bahamas and the plant is an amaryllis.

I've had this dresser since I was a baby. My parent's bought it from my baby-sitter and refinished it. The orange jewelry stand cost me $1 at Goodwill and the small box/basket in the front was a gift from my friend Sharyn. Her parent's brought it back from Venezuela.

Here's my desk! It was also purchased from Walmart. The candle sticks are from Tanzania and the art on the wall is my name in Chinese, brought back from Hong Kong by Kim and Brandon.

This is my little reading corner. I don't really read here, but it looks nice. The art work is from Congo and Tanzania. The dolls are from Grand Cayman and Tanzania. I bought the stool before I went to college and my mom made that cover for it.

Finally, here's my bathroom. I carried over the teal and brown theme but brightened it and added some mod fun to it. The shower curtain, hooks, towels, and rug are all from ValueCity and the baskets are Longaberger baskets given to me by my mom and used for storage of make-up, hair accessories, and everyday essentials like toothpaste and face wash.


So there it is! My little house. I hope you liked the tour! The biggest lessons I learned from decorating my room where to not be afraid to use things that probably clash in style. I think if you use the things you love, it all comes together somehow. I also learned to re-purpose things. My curtains were intended to be panels on a canopy bed but work perfectly as regular curtains. Goodwill or your own closet are great resources for that. And the best thing? You don't have to spend a lot of money to get a great look! Nothing in this room (with the exception of books and electronics) cost more then $100 dollars. That includes the furniture, rug, lamps, and decor. All the art together didn't cost anymore then $30. It's all the framing. Never underestimate the power of a great professional frame! I'm so glad I was able to make my apartment, and more specifically my room, a place that is peaceful and makes me happy!

It Continues to Haunt Me

Today was my first day back from class after my month long break so to console myself I didn't pay attention and surfed the Internet. Really I always do that, but I thought I'd attempt a justification. After exhausting my usual reading material, I decided to check housingmaps.com for apartment available in Philadelphia. I'm scrolling through the list, not really seeing too much that's appealing when I come across a listing for a luxury two bedroom in Society Hill. I open it up and what do I find? The amazing apartment with original hardwood floors (listed as such this time) and tons of charm that I previously drooled over in this post! It was just listed again yesterday. This sent me into fresh waves of wanting it and whining about it to everyone that would listen again. It's like it's there, waiting just for me. Or it's there to torture me. I'm not really quite sure which yet. Anyone looking to sublease for two months in Philly?

The Philadelphia Story: A Day of Apartment Hunting

On Wednesday, my future roommate Kim and I set out to begin the research for our planned November exodus to the City of Brotherly Love. I finish my nursing program on October 31st so our goal is to move to Philly sometime around then. While we have been planning this for many months, no real actual progress has been made on the plans so on Wednesday, the second hottest day of the summer or some such thing, the research kicked off in high gear.

We spent most of Tuesday night researching apartments on Craigslist. But not directly on Craigslist. No no. We had done just enough research to discover the fabulous hybrid of HousingMaps. With HousingMaps, you get a blend of Craigslist and GoogleMaps with fabulous searching features. Simply pick your city and price range and off you go, or click on show filters for some more great tools like number of rooms. After investigating, we had a list of 20 or so apartments that interested us. Next came phase two, or the part where we plotted them on GoogleMaps using the MyMaps feature and e-mailed listings that only had e-mail addresses for information on how we could see the apartments. After about four hours of research we went to bed, only to wake up the next morning and call all the people on the list to make appointments. To make a long story short, we ended up with 6 appointment to see 7 apartments.

We saw everything from tiny, dirty apartments to spacious townhouses with basements and yards. We looked everywhere from center city to scary ghetto South Philly. The results were kind of strange. The price range? $1450-1695. It didn't seem to matter where the apartment was or what sort of features it was offering. That's just the standard price for a two bedroom. In fact, the pricest apartment was the one in scary ghetto South Philly. One apartment we looked at had a bedroom so small you could barely close the door with a twin bed in it. For only $50 dollars more you got an apartment 5 blocks away with better location, skylights, a parking spot in the private attached garage, and a roof deck. No, I don't get it either. For a $100 more you could get a spacious 4th floor walk-up with more closets then I have ever seen in an apartment in Society Hill in a historic 18th century brownstone with what looked like the original floors. Oh just thinking about the amount of charm hurts me a little bit inside. Needless to say, I was distraught that we could not immediately make a deposit on it. In fact I moaned about this very fact for something like 45 minutes. Everytime I would whine, Kim would start to list all of its wonderful features dreamily. It was not a good cycle.

So after sweating it out on the streets, we realized that our prospects look good, if not a little more expensive then I was hoping for. But I guess it's worth it to live in right in the heart of such a great city. Now that we have some info, we're suspending the hunt until such a time when we can actually take the next apartment we fall in love with. Which is probably wise because I don't think I could stand to loose another 18th century fourth floor walkup with central air, no matter how bad the parking is.

How to Save the World: The Fourth

Here's yet another easy way I'm currently trying to save the world. This time, it's cleaning supplies!

I decided to explore this topic after reading about the toilet flush spray in the bathroom. I wanted to scrub my bathroom down, but I hate cleaning supplies! You have to change into old clothes so you don't bleach or stain them, you have to wear gloves so you don't destroy your skin, you have to rinse thoroughly so you're not touching chemicals all the time, and you have to deal with that awful perfumed chemical smell. Not to mention the fact that they're expensive. So I decided to try natural. I figured there was really no harm in it. Instead of just buying some green cleaner from the store, I decided to save money and make my own. Plus that way if I didn't like the results, it was no big deal and I didn't have a whole bottle of expensive crappy cleaner sitting around.

After doing a little research, I mixed up my own blend of vinegar, water, lemon juice, and baking soda. Pretty easy. I put it in a spray bottle, grabbed a scrub brush and headed off to the bathroom. I found myself pleasantly surprised. I didn't have to change my clothes because no risk of bleaching and the smell was actually kind of pleasant. Not to mention the fact that these three ingredients can basically clean everything in your house. No more buckets of bottles and oh no, I don't have enough of toilet bowl cleaner now what? I was more then happy with the results and my roommate even commented on how clean and shiny my bathroom was.

Here's two sites that have various formulas for just about everything and suggestions for making your own cleaning products. I don't remember exactly how I mixed mine, but I don't think it tremendously matters. Enjoy your new non-toxic, nature-friendly house!

http://www.eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm
http://www.at-home-with-mama.com/bathroom-cleaning-tips.html

Biohazard in the Bathroom

It all started out with a harmless enough seeming sentence. "Hey did you know that your toilet sprays 20 feet when you flush it so you shouldn't keep your toothbrush by it?" Initially I brushed this off as the stuff urban legends are made of. My bathroom isn't even 20 feet and my toothbrush tastes fine so who cares? Once I was able to rationalize myself out of a germaphobe panic, my curiosity peaked. So I did the research. And I will now present my startling findings to you.

There's actually a name for this toilet spraying thing. It's called the aerosol effect of toilets and was first mentioned by University of Arizona environmental microbiologist Charles Gerba when he published a scientific article in 1975 describing bacterial and viral aerosols due to toilet flushing. "Droplets are going all over the place—it's like the Fourth of July," said Gerba. Gerba's research has shown that water droplets travel in an invisible cloud six to eight feet up and out every time you flush your toilet. Given the size of most bathrooms, that pretty much means your entire bathroom is regularly sprayed with toilet water. That means your towels, toothbrush, toilet paper, and reading material are all pretty well contaminated.

Not only is this bacterial mist flying around eight feet, it is also capable of remaining in the air for two hours after each flush, giving it maximal time to float and spread. That means not only is your bathroom contaminated, but it's contaminating you. Every time you flush you are covering yourself with and inhaling this toilet-generated bacterial mist. One researcher called this the F3 force: fecal fountain factor. The potential for bacteria is further compounded by the room temperature of the water. To break it down for you: Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, E. coli and Shigella bacteria, hepatitis A virus and the common cold virus are all common inhabitants of public bathrooms. The best way to keep yourself healthy? Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot water for 20-30 seconds (that's roughly three times through Row, Row, Row Your Boat) every time you use the bathroom.

Surprisingly, toilet seats are the least contaminated place in the bathroom. The place with the highest concentration will probably surprise you. I'll give you a hint. It's not the toilet. You might want to brace yourself for this. The place with the highest microbial concentration is.....the sink. Gerba attributes this to infrequent and less attentive cleaning. And your toothbrush? It's a hot spot for fecal bacteria and germs spewed into the air by the aerosol effect.

What does that mean for you? Clean your bathroom more often and more thoroughly. Every area should be cleaned just as well as you clean your toilet, including the ceiling. Also, since your sink is the most contaminated area, you should thoroughly wash your hands after any sink-related activity like washing your face and brushing your teeth. And remember to wash your hands after using your blow-dryer. Like hot-air hand dryers, it can increase the bacterial count on your hands by as much as 162%. If you're still not convinced that bacteria exist in any significant quantities on your hands, consider that the kitchen sink actually harbors the most fecal matter in the average home, carried there by unwashed hands after using the bathroom. Keep your toothbrush out of the line of fire in a medicine cabinet or buy a cover for it. Finally, the simplest solution of all, close the toilet lid before you flush. This greatly reduces the effects of the aerosol effect.

If you're still not convinced, try your own experiment. Flush your toilet. Add 1 tablespoon of food coloring. Lift the toilet seat and stretch plastic wrap across the toilet bowl. Flush and watch the droplets fly up. If the plastic wrap wasn't there, all that would now be in the air. Remove the plastic wrap and wash your hands.

Note: When I performed this experiment at home, I was under-whelmed with the amount of toilet spray. My conclusion? This is probably not a concern for your average healthy adult. Those who are immunocompromised (children, the elderly, etc.) may want to take this into consideration. Personally, I'm trying to close the lid, because hey why not?

Weekend Goings On

Kim came over this weekend and we had fun and relaxed and made pizza. But not just any pizza. Cool fun pizza! And meatless since it was a Friday during Lent. So we made spinach pierogi pizza and it was so yummy! So I'm giving you all the recipe as a wonderful favor. You should totally make it.

Spinach Pierogi Pizza

Ingredients:
1 roll refrigerated pizza dough
10 ounces chopped frozen spinach, thawed (squeeze to drain)
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cup mashed potatoes
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 small onion, sliced, separated into rings

Directions:
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease 13 x 9" pan. Place dough in greased pan; starting at center, press out with hands.

Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until light golden brown.

Meanwhile, in large skillet cook spinach and chopped onion in butter until onion is crisp-tender. Stir in potatoes; mix well. In small bowl, combine oil and garlic salt; mix well. Brush over partially baked crust; top with spinach mixture.

Sprinkle with mozzarella and then Cheddar cheeses; top with onion rings.

Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges of crust are golden brown.

Here's a picture of our finished product!Not perfect but so so yummy!!

The New Adventures of Caitlin and Christine

Tonight was an interesting night. Here's a little rundown.

Christine bakes pumpkin bread.

Caitlin is studying Pharmacology and gets bored. She decides it would be a good idea to fill the bathtub with water and attempt to float the rabbit in it on a cookie sheet. She begins to fill the tub with water.

The carbon monoxide detector goes off. Caitlin stands on chair and waves a cookie sheet at it. Christine calls resourceful boyfriend/house husband and opens windows and doors. Carbon monoxide detector continues to go off.

Christine calls Emergency Maintenance. No answer.

Christine calls the Fire Department. No answer.

Freak out and call house husband.

Christine calls 911.

911 operator tells us to go outside. Christine and Caitlin layer up and go outside, taking out the trash on their way. May as well kill two birds with one stone.

Christine and Caitlin freeze their butts off.

Christine realizes that bunny is still loose inside. Christine and Caitlin perform emergency rescue operation, with Caitlin holding her nose. Christine holds rabbit in her coat to keep her warm.

Maintenance calls back and is annoyed.

The fire truck arrives.

Maintenance arrives.

Maintenance informs us the detector is bad. The fire department leaves. Maintenance takes detector and leaves.

Christine and Caitlin come back inside.

Caitlin irons place mats in her zebra print pajama pants.

Maintenance man returns and installs a new carbon monoxide detector.

Christine feeds maintenance man pumpkin bread and he leaves.

Christine and Caitlin lament that none of them were even remotely hot.

Experiments in the Kitchen

Ever since moving into my new apartment, I've vowed to be a more adventurous cooker. It's hard sometimes. The last thing I feel like doing after class is making myself food. I'm always hungry and tired, but somehow I make it. The latest in the series of "food purchases to broaden my culinary horizons" was tofu. It was on sale. I like sales.

I used my tofu in two grand experiments. The first was a stir-fry. I sliced the tofu into thin strips and then sauted it in some butter and spices. Then I dumped it into a frozen veggie stir-fry mix and added tequila lime marinade. It was good. The tequila lime was a little over-powering and salty. I should have cut it with some water or juice or something. Or maybe just used less.

Tonight's tofu experiment was much more brave. I decided to make tofu parm. I crumbled up bread and mixed it with flour and spices and then coated the sliced tofu in it. Problem one arose in that the bread was too big despite my best efforts and didn't really stick to the tofu. So I decided to pre-bake it for like 10 minutes to get that nice crunchy coating. This did not work either. So I went ahead and dumped on the sauce, added the garlic, sprinkled on the cheese and baked it for about 20 minutes. The finished product was...nothing like chicken parm. But it wasn't bad either. It just kind of tasted like sauce and cheese with some mushy stuff. Almost the same consistency as mozzarella. So yeah. It really wasn't bad, but I don't think I'd use that procedure again. Next time, I think I'll stick to the established recipes for first tries.

The Importance of Being Ernesto

Now that I'm all settled into my apartment and (FINALLY) have internet, I get to update! Our move-in day was awful. We didn't end up getting in until 5pm. Christine got in an accident, I was so stressed and grumpy from the Complex just not calling us ever to tell us we had our CO...but once we got in it was ok. Verizon lost our account so our DSL didn't work and they were like well it'll take two weeks to get the account in so we can turn it on...and we're like UNACCEPTABLE. So we got cable. Finally. Yesterday. Most of the weekend was spent moving, unpacking, cleaning, and organizing. Did I mention the HURRICANE? We moved all our possessions in a hurricane. And our apartment is fabulous. I should not have even worried about it. Everything is working out great. Someday, once it's all really nice, I'll post up some pictures. I love my room. I love it, I love it, I love it. Roommate things have been perfect and she has some crazy friends whom I've met.

Living here is crazy sometimes. When we go downtown, it's like driving in to another country. The area we live in is predominantly Hasidic Jew and Mexicans. It's a very strange combination. You drive downtown and there are people everywhere walking and running and riding bikes. Except....they have on black suits and huge hats and prayer fringes hanging out. Everyone that doesn't fit that description and isn't a woman with an insane number of children in tow, is standing on the street corner, waiting for someone to drive by and yell out a job so they can get a job for the day. It's very differant and sort of endearing in a bizzare way. I've never gotten so many dirty looks from people while driving. I think it's the blonde hair. Or the fact that people just happen to run into the middle of the street frequently and then look at you as if Hello! How could you have the nerve to DRIVE ON THE ROAD? *Glare* I've only almost died twice. The weirdest is when the men push back their little curls so that they can LIGHT UP THEIR CIGARETTES. So strange. Today, we went into town to pick up plans from a building company for a friend of my roommates. The company is owned by Hasidic Jews. We walked in and everyone immediately turned and stared at us. We stood there. Someone finally looked us both over and asked if they could help us. Christine told them what we were there for. The girl looked at me and said "And you are?" I was just like...uh I..uh..with her! So we stood there again. Everytime someone walked by the window they stared at us and gave us the once over. I squirmed. Then from behind the conference room door came a whole line of men, who all glared at us. And finally we got our stuff. Then we high-tailed it out of there. The whole thing was slightly surreal.

Class has been very high-stress. Everyone FREAKS OUT at the drop of a hat. The "adult learners" in our class panic, freak out, and ask a bajillion pointless questions and tell stories. I'm like SHUSH just let the Prof lecture! I mean the poor Prof couldn't get through more then a bullet point without being interupted by a whole class discussion. It was driving me nuts! Plus out professor freaked out when we had a conflict with a room and went on a whole tirade about wanting to our PDA's to have sex with her PDA. I'm glad I don't have a PDA to "share fluids. The nursing professors are like...too nice to keep control. Today we had a Doctor for Pathophysiology and he kept wonderful control of the class. And things went smooth and questions were appropriate and moderate. It was lovely and normal and lectureish and I finally took notes. It helped so much. But I have SOOO much reading to do. Ok but I'm done whining now.

Less Cash, More Splash

As move in day looms closer still and I begin to stress about packing, I figured I'd share my passion for decorating with you. I don't claim to be a good decorator or anything, but I'm thinking that I'm pretty ok at putting together a cohesive room on a budget. I have to say that Kim's kitchsy oriental room looked great and was remarkably cheap. We ended up using a set of bamboo patio blinds spray-painted black and trimmed in chopsticks painted red as her head board. How fun is that? But now that it comes time to do my own room, I'm getting a little anxious. I don't have much of a plan. Aside from colors. Brown and turquoise. I pulled them from my lovely ikat quilt from Target. The pictures just don't do it justice. Other then that I think I'm trying to get an ethnic look, although no particular ethnicity. My furniture situation is a little interesting. I bought this bed and the matching night table from Walmart, which is great, perfect, and exactly what I was looking for. It and the desk I got are, however, a bit modern. Do modern and ethnic go? They're going to have to. Then the real problems start. I have this great antique oak dresser that's just sitting at home not really doing much and instead of buying a dresser, I'm going to bring that one. But in my head it SO DOESN'T WORK. So hopefully either a) it won't look as bad as I think it's going to b) it will fit in the closet or c) I can come up with some fabulous way to make it match. I'll let you know how to goes.

My next major concern is a lack of flat surfaces. I want to keep them relatively clutter free. I'm trying to get more of a simple, clean look here. A lot of the pieces I want in my room to give it that ethnic flare, however, happen to need a place to go. Fortunately my desk comes with that nifty little shelf. I just hope that'll be enough space, along with my night table and possibly dresser top unless it goes in the closet.

Anyway, as I'm sure you're aware, I'm super excited about moving. I've been doing really well on my budget considering I had to buy furniture for my room, everything for my bathroom, etc. My whole living space is pretty much courtesy of Walmart, Target, and Value City with the exception of a few items. It's the way to go.

Things I most love about my new apartment: hardwood floors, ginormous window in my bedroom, dishwasher, washer & dryer, roommate that comes with a bunny :)