13 for 2013

Whew! I can’t believe it’s already 2013. The past year was a complete whirlwind. 2012 was by far one of the busiest, most exciting, and most life changing years I’ve had so far. I kicked off the year with a new job and moved back to my hometown of Indianapolis after a two-year stint in Cincinnati. Josh and I finally moved into our own place- in the same city! And we got married. Then I went brunette!

It was one fabulous and crazy year.

I’m usually not a fan of New Years resolutions. They’ve always seem sort of silly, since I don’t think you need to wait until January rolls around to make changes to your life. But since everything has calmed down after the craziness that was 2012, I felt like I had some time in 2013 to try some new things, and dare I say it, make some resolutions.

Since it’s 2013, I thought 13 would be the appropriate amount of resolutions to kick off the New Year. I’m not sure I can even call these resolutions because they’re mostly fun things I want to do anyway, but hey, those are just the kinds of resolutions I’ll actually keep.

1. Read more books. I’m finally the proud owner of a Kindle, and I’m already engrossed in my first book for the year: The Passage by Justin Cronin. My goal for the year is to read 10 books, which may not seem like a lot, but considering I’ve only read a handful in past year, I need to be realistic. Comment and let me know if you have any suggestions on what to read!
2. Brew some more beer. Since I gave Josh a brewing kit last Christmas, we’ve only made two batches of beer. Two! Since I love drinking beer, I figured it would be great to start making more of own rather than buying it. And, how cool of gift idea would that be? Watch out Christmas 2013!
3. Actually get down to the weight that’s written on my driver’s license. Who doesn’t have a weight loss goal for the New Year?
4. Start a new TV series. I’m definitely one to re-watch all of my favorite shows, and I’m frequently watching reruns of How I Met Your Mother and The Office on Netflix. I only have 3 shows I watch regularly “live,” so I figured it would be fun to check out something new! I’d love to find a show on Netflix that’s already ended and watch it from the beginning. No commercials!
5. Try out some new styles. Buy something I’d never wear usually wear. And wear it. And rock it.
6. Check out an exercise class. I’ve wanted to do this forever, but I continue to remain a slave to the same old treadmill and elliptical.
7. Do a DIY project from Pinterest. I have a ridiculous amount of wine corks I’ve been collecting over the last year and I’d love to finally do something with them. I think it’s time to stop pinning and start doing.
8. Buy our first house. Once again, not really a resolution, but Josh and I really want to buy a house later this year. We just need to find the perfect one!
9. Expand my cooking repertoire. I’d love to try out more types of cuisine and find some new favorite recipes. I should probably start with the dozen cooking books we have sitting around!
10. Host a dinner party. We now have some amazing place settings and serving ware from our wedding, so I need an excuse to use it!
11. Finally finish the scrapbooks I’ve had sitting around for years. You wouldn’t believe it, but scrapbooking materials take up a whole lot of space!
12. Downsize. It’s time to get rid of what we’re not using and clean out the closet. What better excuse to buy something new?
13. Pick up a new hobby. I just don’t know what it is….yet.

So there we go, 13 things to keep me busy in 2013! We’ll see how it goes…

Just call me Peggy Guggenheim

This year for my 25^th birthday, a dream of mine finally came true: I’m now an art collector. OK, so I have one piece, but a collection has to start somewhere!

I love art. It all dates back to when I read Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons in high school. I decided to minor in art history in college and further pursued my passion for art by studying abroad in Italy my senior year. After visiting the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, I became completely enthralled by Peggy and her collection. Peggy life was pretty fascinating- you can read more about it in her memoir, Confessions of an Art Addict, or from my Confessions of a Museum Addict post.) As an art aficionado, she also had an amazing art collection. To this day it’s one of my favorite museums I’ve ever visited.

So this year when he asked what I wanted for my birthday, I told Josh I wanted an original piece of art to jump start my collection. After doing some research of local artists, he settled on this piece by Linette Bledsoe, an artist who operates out of a studio in the Stutz Building here in Indianapolis. The piece is absolutely perfect. In my mind, it signifies the beginning of our life together in the fall (for those of you who don’t know, we were married in October.)

Now I just have to get to work on expanding my collection- and gathering the funds to do so!

Anyone have recommendations for other local artists here in Indy? And, perhaps ones that don’t cost $2,000 per piece? Comment and let me know!

Life as a brunette

For the past week I’ve been repeating the phrase, “You might not recognize me, I used to be blonde.”

A little too much actually, and friends have started telling me it’s not necessary- people know who I am.

But even when I look into the mirror, it’s still a shock to see brown locks where my always and forever natural blonde hair used to be (OK so I get highlights, but it is naturally blonde!)

I’ve gone brown. I’m a brunette. And I sort of love it, but it’s still a little weird.

Unlike some people who despise their natural hair color, I’ve always loved being blonde. It’s sort of my thing, and I feel like it perfectly describes my personality (not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but…)

But, I also like change. Thrive on it actually. I’m easily bored and lately I’ve wanted to take the leap and try something new. I spent the last year growing out my hair and keeping up my regular highlighting for the wedding, but now that the wedding has passed and Josh is now stuck with me for better or worse, I decided to try something different. Drastically different.

OK, so it took a lot of convincing. Even on my way to the salon I wasn’t sure if I was going to go through with it.

But I did, and it was a great decision. I feel like a whole new person. Changing your hair color is one of the quickest ways to change up your look. All my clothes look different- dark colors that looked great when I was blonde are a little bland, and lighter colors that used to wash me out look great. Everyday is like a new adventure!

I still haven’t decided if this is the new norm, or if I’ll switch back to blonde this summer, or what’s in store next. But right now I’m enjoying life as a brunette!  Which actually isn’t much different than my life as a blonde, but you get the point.

10 reasons I love the holidays

‘Tis the season here in Indianapolis, and that means it’s time for Christmas shopping, twinkle lights and decking halls with boughs of holly. I do have to admit that I’m a little upset we haven’t gotten any snow yet. Except for that one day it snowed for about 10 minutes. That doesn’t count.

Honestly who doesn’t love the holidays? It’s only the most magical time of the year. Plus, it’s a built in vacation. You can’t argue with that.

Here’s what I love about the season:

1. Christmas candles- I’m sort of a candle junkie, and although I’m soft of terrified to light them after the scarring YouTube video incident, there’s no better smell than that of cinnamon, pecan pie, Christmas cookies and spiced apples in the air. However, I am a little confused by Yankee Candle’s new “My Favorite Things” line. Brown paper packages? Whiskers on kittens? OK, that one I might have to try.
2. Scrumptious seasonal brews- I’m a total fan of dark beer, and winter seasonal flavors are my favorite. Sam Adams has captured my heart with their amazing seasonal variety packs. Their winter variety pack is top notch with deliciousness like Holiday Porter, Winter Lager and Chocolate Bock.
3. Holiday parties- Food, drink, friends, and ridiculous White Elephant gift exchanges- need I say more? Unfortunately with the lack of space in our one bedroom apartment, we won’t be hosting a holiday party this year, but I’m already planning A Very Perry Xmas for Christmas 2013. Seriously, it’s going to be awesome.
   

   via http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

4. Awkward family holiday photos- Enough said.
5. Christmas music- Seriously, it just puts you in a great mood. Plus, work is always more productive when jamming to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas is You.”
6. The excuse to eat ridiculous amounts- I feel like I’ve been on a nonstop holiday food binge the past few weeks. Delicious breads, cookies, pies…I even had snicker doodle frozen yogurt tonight. Not to mention Dassie Rice’s 25 Days of Christmas Cookies Challenge.  Best idea ever.
7. Christmas movies- A cup of tea/hot chocolate/wine with holiday classics like Elf, Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story is the recipe for a perfect winter evening. Not to mention that our favorite TV shows have special Christmas episodes. The Office never fails to impress.
8. Holiday cards- I absolutely love holiday cards. In fact, I bought mine for this year on sale after Christmas last year. I was that excited. I also love receiving holiday cards (thanks in advance for sending me one !)
9. Decorations- Umm, obviously.
10. Exchanging gifts- I love exchanging gifts. And wrapping gifts, in quality paper like this gem:

Yep, that’s cat wrapping paper.

Well that’s my list! So why do you love the holidays? Comment below and let me know!

But in the end, nobody loves the holidays as much as Binx. So don’t even try.

How I became terrified of our Christmas tree

This year for the first time ever I got a real Christmas tree. I’ve never, ever had a real tree. It’s an understatement to say that I was excited.

One of the great things about being married is getting the chance to step outside the norm and start new traditions together. I grew up with an artificial tree and I never really cared much either way. I figured a tree’s a tree, right? Not according to Josh, who insisted we needed a real tree for our first Christmas together. I was all in- a real tree! Griswold style.

So we embarked on the adventure of picking out the perfect Christmas tree, which meant driving for 45 minutes to a tree lot in the middle of nowhere and trudging around in the mud and cold to find the perfect one. Finally, we found our winner. I think I saw it first, but Josh may say otherwise.

After sawing down the tree and dragging it a half a mile back to the car (well Josh cut it down and pulled it, but it looked exhausting!) we came home with our freshly cut tree. Then we realized it took up literally a fourth of our living room and had to do some major rearranging. But it’s huge and awesome and now looks like this:

Yep, pretty amazing.

So as I relax on the couch with a cup of hot tea and a Christmas tree-smelling candle (as if it didn’t already smell Christmasy enough in here already!) Josh proceeds to tell me I need to be careful with candles around the tree. I LOVE candles. He then proceeds to show me the video that would scar me forever. I’ll never look at a Christmas tree the same way again.

The day I realized my husband is a better cook than me

Last night I came home to an apartment that smelled absolutely delicious. This isn’t unusual since Josh (aka Husband) usually gets home before me and starts dinner, and he’s a great cook. It’s not like he’s good at making a few staples dishes, he’s just good in general. We’re talking pull the ingredients out of the fridge, grab some spices, not sure where it’s going to end up good.

So this is what I found on the stove.

And I was slightly worried what was under what mysterious floating bowl.

WHATS UNDER THE BOWL?!?!

Then I asked if it was a cat, which it was not (crisis averted!)

 Nope, it was corned beef. Which had been cooking for three hours. For homemade reubens.

Are you kidding me?

Then I poured some beers, but that’s pretty much all I could contribute to this situation.

An hour later we ate the reubens, which were of course, delicious.

This isn’t atypical; Josh is always randomly cooking the most intense, delicious looking things I could think of.  Creativity is my problem- I stick to what I know. When I lived on my own, I would experiment more, knowing nobody would have to taste my failures but me.  I’m not a bad cook by any means and I enjoy cooking, but I can humbly admit that my husband far exceeds me in the kitchen.

For the most part, I’m loyal to recipes. There are a few dishes that I can whip up like a pro, sans recipe. I rock at making Thai red curry, most pastas, roasted vegetables, and recently I made the greatest iced sugar cookies known to man (according to me, and Josh. So that counts.) I also make a mean fruit pizza.

As I wrote this I asked Josh what I cooked well, beyond what I just mentioned above. All he could think of was sweet Thai soup, which HE invented. Of course.

So I plan on sharing some of my cooking adventures with all of you (like the things I do well, and maybe not so well) and also plenty of new recipes I find. What did we do before Pinterest?

So if you have any good recipe ideas to help me wow the hubs, comment and let me know! I’d love your ideas.

But seriously, if a guy like this is a master chef, there’s not much hope at all (note the holster and gun, please.)

Round two

It’s the moment you all (have not) been waiting for- I’ve decided to start blogging again. I tried blogging about two years ago and pretty much failed after less than a dozen posts. Why? I completely overthought every blog post and I “didn’t” have enough time (classic excuse, right?) And, contrary to popular belief, I’ve decided to keep my old blog. Whoa! So why did I decide to break the rules and pick up where I left off?

First off, the process of trying to pick a new blog name was utterly exhausting. I had several ideas, like Perry’s Post-It, Speaking as Steph and Perry’s Powder Room. But, I decided Perry’s Post-It wasn’t quite right, Speaking as Steph made me sound overly opinionated and Perry’s Powder Room was just sort of creepy. I also thought about doing something with cats, but then I decided that I didn’t want to loose 90% of my possible readership right off the bat (i.e. dog lovers, people who think cats are weird, people who think people who like cats are weird, people who just don’t want to read about cats.) You know, those types.

Since the process of choosing a new name was entirely too stressful, I decided that The Pink Post-It was the way to go. If you missed the original explanation of the name behind the blog (circa 2010), here’s a quick run down.

Pink is the color I try to live my life by: light up a room, have fun and add some sparkle. I also love post-its, but not in a weird way or anything. Post-its are pretty much my lifeline to recording information. They also help to mark where I’ve been and what I’ve done- much like a blog! See the connection?

So, here we go again! As you can tell, I’m excited.