Happy New Year - 2015

Today starts a brand new year! Although most of today will be spend in a state of doing nothing constructive or creative (i.e. lounging on the sofa in my pj's), I have given some thought to what I plan to accomplish in the coming year.

I have set my resolutions up as short term, mid term and year end goals. First, in the short term, I need to clean. I mean, really clean. And purge. I have too much stuff. I need to go through my storage and throw out all the old paint cans from ten years ago. I need to get rid of a lot of old stuff in there like light fixtures that don't work, old shower curtain rods ....useless stuff that once a while back I thought I would need again. Now it's ten years later and I've lived this long without them. They can go.

I need to securely wrap up and move any bolts of fabric that I am not working with into the newly created space in storage. I have too much fabric in my studio. I know, I know....there is no such thing as too much fabric. But it is not a very large studio and it is feeling very cluttered. Cluttered spaces are not productive spaces. So they will need to be relocated. Temporarily, not for ten years.

I have too many mannequins. I have six child and six adult mannequins. I can cut that number down, since I no longer do art shows where I need to display a whole bunch of dresses and such. Twelve mannequins takes up a lot of room. I will photograph them and put them up on craigslist, since they weren't cheap when I bought them and someone can definitely use them.

I will (finally) grout around my fireplace tiles. Doing this will mean I can then give all the tiling equipment and tools back to my parents. The extra grout and supplies can go away (though I will keep a small container of the grout powder for any touch ups I may need to do). This will give me an additional two feet of space along the back of the sofa, where I have been storing these tools and equipment for the past couple years.

I will recover my sectional and either sell it or keep it and sell the sofa. Yes, I have a full sofa plus a full sectional. I live on my own and can seat 12 people in my living room. It's going to be hard to determine which I want to give up, but I do need to choose one or the other. I just want the space back.

This means by April (mid-term goals), I will have my dining room area back. Which means I can host a Birthday Brunch. And diner parties. And Sangria Sundays. I also want to visit Cuba. Or Prague and Vienna. Cuba first, then Prague and Vienna.

I want to redo my kitchen. I would like new counters and will probably need a new refrigerator this year. The one I currently have has started making funny noises with increased frequency. This is not a good thing. I want to remove the dishwasher entirely. The only time I use it is .....never. It leaks, and so about two years ago I stopped using it. I have so few dishes I just do them by hand when I need to. Although, if I start hosting more people, I may reconsider this idea. But it would be nice to turn that area back into a cupboard for baking equipment. I'd keep the hose hook-up for if I ever sell my place and move.

And I need to renovate my main bathroom. Big time. Especially the shower.

So there you have it. I've committed my resolutions by writing them down and making them public.

Have you made any resolutions? Let me know big or small. Remember, start with small steps and build momentum for greater success. The biggest (apparent) reason people fail in keeping their resolutions is that they resolve too much too quickly.

Hope you are having a great start to your new year!

Easter Brunch . . . times two !

This Easter weekend brought about not one, but two Easter brunches.

The first was hosted on Good Friday by my friend Sarah of Green Tomato Supper Club. Now, you know it’s going to be a good brunch when you ask if there is anything you can bring and your host replies “Perhaps some bubbly for mimosas….” Nice ! There can never be too much bubbly at a brunch.

It was a beautiful warm spring day, so we were able to sit outside under the cherry blossom trees and catch up with friends we hadn’t seen in a while. Sarah produced a beautiful spread, with quiche tartlets, cheeses, breads, individual caprese bites and her own made preserves. The dining room table was pushed to one side and set up as a buffet to allow more room for people to move around. Throughout the house were cheerful bouquets of daffodils . . .as well as several children and Mezzo the rather large roly-poly cat.

The next day was our family brunch. Mom and I decided to serve bacon wrapped scallops and an assortment of pickles, crackers, salsa and sliced cheeses to start. I know, I know…..bacon on Easter weekend. Not very Lent friendly. The weather being so beautiful, we sat out on the veranda and coloured eggs while nibbling on the spread. Mom grilled a delicious pork tenderloin with lemon and rosemary, while I made oven roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli.

For dessert I made some fun chocolate cups using balloons dipped in chocolate.  When the chocolate set, I snipped the neck of each balloon to deflate it and peel it away from the chocolate. The result ends up looking like half of an egg shell; perfect for the Easter theme. These I filled with a sort of blackberry apple fool, made using Mom’s blackberry apply jelly. Little bit of coconut for a nest, couple little chocolate eggs and some blueberries for garnish, and dessert is done. These can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Easter Sunday morning I finished decorating mini chocolate cupcakes. I had baked the cupcakes in those little condiment cups you get for ketchup so that they sort of looked like flower pots instead of the traditional cupcake wrappers. They also are the same cups used to dispense pills at the hospital, which is where they were going to be delivered. They were a bit tricky to remove from the wrapping, so I clipped into the side to create a starting point. Cupcakes decorated and packed up, it was time for scrambled eggs and cinnamon buns.

So, a full weekend with friends, family and feasting . . . .a perfect way to spend the Easter holiday.