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Thursday, July 9th, 2009
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5:59 pm - CSA Bounty 07.09.09
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Man, they give some good stuff. Getting snow peas again this week reminded me of the bag we got last week as well. A side dish or a stir fry may be in order to use all those up.
+ 1 pint of blueberries
+ 2 green zucchini
+ dill plant
+ bunch of red chard
+ bunch of kale
+ bag of snow peas
+ 2 small heads of lettuce
+ bunch of scallions
+ bunch of turnips
The dill plant seems really weak at the roots so I just may use that in flat Turkish like turkey meatballs for dinner tonight. Accompanying the meat balls would be some couscous and a cucumber/radish/red onion salad from last night. Vaguely Mediterranean tonight. Oh yeah, and we have some turnips left over from a couple of weeks ago. Who has a good recipe for mashed turnips? I've never done that before.
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10:20 am - This or That?
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Are there ever days when you don't feel like doing your whole morning routine? I'm trying to figure out if that's laziness or just ennui.
Trying to shake things up a bit by diving directly into work and not even bothering to respond to emails until 12pm or so. I need to get some creative juices flowing first thing. And, my desk needs a thorough cleaning along with some way to file all these business cards I picked up at the Fancy Food Show last week. Today might be a general organization day for me. I think my brain and my business both need it.
current music: upstairs neighbour playing music
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| Thursday, June 18th, 2009
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6:24 pm - New CSA Bounty!
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Wow, wow awesome. We started a new share with the Clinton Hill CSA and their pick up location is right across the street from us at an elementary school. So, I can just take a break at 5pm every Thursday, walk around the corner and get fresh vegetables and fruit. Rock. Here's the haul for the inaugural week:
+ bunch of green leaf lettuce
+ bunch of kale
+ bunch of chard
+ 1 bok choy bulb thingy
+ 1 purple kohlrabi
+ pint of snow peas
+ bunch of green onion
+ 4 garlic scapes (green tops off the garlic bulbs & taste just like garlic!)
+ 1 qt of strawberries
+ fresh thyme & fresh oregano plants in the same starter box. We can replant these for awesome herbs!
First off, I think I'll use up the snow peas & some of the green onions in homemade ramen soup tonight. As we all know, it's been raining like London in the NE for the last couple of weeks. Now, it's chilly too. We can throw the rest of the green onion and some goat cheese into a breakfast omelette this weekend.
Oooh, I think I'll make lentil, kale & sausage soup this weekend as well. Warms the bones. Any ideas for the kohlrabi or scapes? Apparently you can cook the former just like turnips with butter, but I've never had that either. Suggestions?
Yum!
current mood: hungry
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| Thursday, June 11th, 2009
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12:02 pm - I can't concentrate for crap right now.
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It's amazing the difference having breakfast makes. I can't focus on what tasks need to be done. But, I also think that's an instance of me just wanting to catch up on emails and clear out my Firefox tabs. I have a project for a client that I need to start on today and will happen, but probably a lot later than anticipated. After that, a full design of an annual report that I'll send off to the client Friday evening.
And all I want to do is clear out emails, organize contacts and read magazines/books. Phooey.
current mood: hungry
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| Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
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9:25 pm - CSA Bounty 05.19.09
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Today's pick up is the second to last week of the Winter share of my CSA. Talk about abundance. They don't mess around and this set will probably last us all the way through a Memorial Day trip to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) javabird & goldings695's place this weekend. Check out what we got:
+ half a huge bunch of basil
+ head of celery
+ 4 thin lovely carrots with full greens
+ 2 red onions
+ 1 beef steak tomato
+ 1 lb strawberries
+ 2 heads of broccoli
+ 2 bok choy bulbs
+ bunch of parsley
+ 1 full bunch swiss chard
+ 1 head of red leaf lettuce
+ 2 huge portobello mushrooms
+ 2 bananas
+ 2 fully ripe plantains
+ 3 apples
+ 1 lb. Red potatoes
Whew! I'm sure I'm missing something, somewhere. And that's just the half share. We would have had spinach & more servings of other items as well with a full share. Meal planning's going to be so fun with this set. Some recipe ideas so far:
+ Mushroom & goat cheese tart w/baby portobellos from last week's set
+ Lentil, swiss chard & sausage soup
+ Jalapeño, red onion, cilantro & tomato grilled cheeses
+ Stir fry w/broccoli, onion, carrots & some of snow peas from last week mixed with brown rice
+ Pesto! Finally have basil again. Any good recipes anybody?
+ A cous cous salad? Recipes or ideas?
+ Strawberry & lettuce salad w/a lemon & balsamic vinaigrette.
+ Huge double batch of chicken stock w/that celery and other carrots we have
Any ideas for what else we could make are fully appreciated. We have just about every seasoning in the world in our kitchen...except marjoram. For some reason. Happy eating!
current mood: hungry
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| Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
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5:57 pm - Just wanted to say...
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Life is good.
1. Going to a Janelle Monáe show tonight with all proceeds going to building a well in Africa.
2. Caught up on some emails and mental house cleaning today. May & June are filling up already in my planner.
3. Secured a pro bono annual report project with a charity helping mentally & physically disabled kids stay active via sports such as skiing, kayaking, etc. Super happy about that!
4. Watered our new plants on the stoop!
That is all. What about y'all?
current mood: rushed
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| Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
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4:39 pm - Jeffrey Zeldman read my mind.
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This is totally how I feel about my situation and needing to take one business day a week for myself:
Jeffrey Zeldman - @zeldman http://twitter.com/zeldman/status/1587407020
If I don't keep blowing off clients, colleagues, and potential new business partners, I'll never finish redesigning my blog.
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I've been in a conundrum lately. I run my own design business and it never feels like I can catch up with the amount of work I have, whether for my business or my home. My mind is constantly cluttered and I think it will take a massive reset button to finally get it cleared the hell out. There doesn't seem to be as much of a work-life balance occurring as I want or need. There's constantly a feeling of confusion and bad sleep patterns to make up for it all. The problem is that, it's not really making it up. It's just adding to the confusion and frustration. I've been thinking of something that might help.
I may decide to give myself one workday off per week, to collect my thoughts, ideas, make art and unclutter my space and life. This day would allow me to carve out time for marketing tasks, billing clients, catching up on industry news, personal promo art/projects, filing papers, doctors' appointments or just breathing for Chrissakes. At first, Fridays seemed attractive, especially for summer but it may have to be a floating mental health/get the office in order day. Who knows, it could end up being a Wednesday for all I know and that could be a good hump day break for me.
And wow, as I was writing that list of what I could do on the free day, it occurred to me, "Don't try to stick it all in one day! That's why you get burned out!" Lesson learned/learning. But, with all this comes a main issue: money. Would taking a full day off working on client projects be all that financially smart? I could possibly just learn to live on less income until I get more higher paying clients to even it out.
For those of you running your own business or even just starting with part time work, do you give yourselves a 4-day work week? If so, how have you structured your time and client management? Has this pace allowed you achieve both personal and career goals and how long? Was meeting those goals pushed back or do you find the pace just fine for you? I'm curious, please.
x-posted to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) graphicdesign & hip_domestics
current mood: antsy
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| Friday, April 17th, 2009
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10:38 am - Yahoo Horoscope is always on point.
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Remember my horoscope from yesterday telling me break out of my routine and a new opportunity will arise, essentially? Well, I randomly did but didn't realize it until much later. The sick boy and I went to go meet up with another sick co-worker/friend during lunchtime in Ft. Greene, Brooklyn, near where we all live. It was a gorgeous and sunny walk to the new bike store in the neighbourhood to convince her not make a large purchase...just yet.
Anyway, we go have lunch after gawking at the bike wares and she invited us to give a talk about personal finance to high schoolers in Newark, NJ! One of her friends is a teacher out there and had initially invited our buddy to come in to speak to her class. Our buddy remembered the boy & I are part of an informal Financial Circle that meets once a month to suss out our goals and how to achieve them.
We've been doing this for almost a year now and a lot of us have made some notable progress. Not even necessarily in cash stacked but just in attitude to money alone. As in, it's okay to slow down credit card payments to build an emergency fund simultaneously, because as we all know now, cash is king. It's been helpful for all of us, monetary & personal setbacks and all.
This would be such a great opportunity to share successes, foibles and advice with a younger generation. "Don't spend so much money on take out. It'll make you broke. FORREALZ." I'm excited about it! More details to come...
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| Thursday, April 16th, 2009
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8:57 am - Trying to wrap my head around the day.
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Has anybody else noticed that once you stop making lists & looking at your planner your life goes to an unmanageable shit? I've definitely noticed this in the last few months of being a freelancer again. It makes a *huge* difference in my day. I was all twitchy a couple of moments ago about the work I had to do today but making the list made it feel surmountable. Don't get me wrong, there are tons of ish on there to do, but still. I have to remind myself that making lists coupled with checking my horoscope daily is a way start the day right.
Funny, my horoscope is telling me to make an excuse to break out of my routine today:
Virgo | Daily Career for April 16, 2009
It's the perfect day to come up with excuses to leave your desk. If being a gofer is beneath you, then you'll miss out on a great opportunity. That special someone or plum assignment is right around the corner, so volunteer to get out of your chair.
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| Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
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12:57 pm - Food musings
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Finally taking a lunch break. Craving something intangible like fried chicken with a side of clarity & spare time. I'll have to just settle for soup instead.
current mood: rushed
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