Six New Dining Chairs for $16 (well... sort of)

Spoiler: This is how it ends. With my reupholstered chairs, and joy.

Nearly three years ago, my parents bought me brand new dining room furniture for my new house. The furniture I'd had was built-it-yourself plywood furniture from Crate and Barrel. While I did painstakingly build it, it wasn't built well, and the materials were cheap and shabby. I like real wood, wood that gets scarred with use, showing signs of the people who enjoyed spending time at it's side. I would have liked a giant, old butcher table, but that was not in my offered price range. The table I have now subs nicely.

This new furniture was from Raymour & Flanigan, and is strong and fairly well built. It's heavy wood, and comes with a side piece that holds all of my vintage stemware and plates. The seats, however, have accumulated various small stain spots. Nothing major, but definitely obvious. Since we have a three year protection plan on the furniture, the company has to come out and remove the stains. Or so I was told.

When the technician arrived though, he nearly laughed and said, "I'm not cleaning these seats." He did, however, spray something on one small, unnoticeable stain. After it dried, it was a hundred times worse.

He sprayed the cleaning foam in a ring, and created this stain.
All that was there before he sprayed it was a quarter-sized water stain.

I called the company to complain and to get help, and they offered to credit me the price of the chairs so that I could pick new ones. They wouldn't match the set, and it's the kind of set that needs to stay together. I love mismatched furniture most of the time, but not in this instance. I didn't want new ones, I just wanted the ones that I had to be clean. My son's belt had carved notches (literally) into the back of the chair, my red toenail polish had marked the legs of one or two of them, and W taught the kids to play poker in them. We've had good times in those chairs, and they are practically brand new.

I bought $16 worth of fabric -- about 3 yards -- and reupholstered the chairs. I love the fabric, and the colors (buttery yellow and a dark pink) and feel so good about having done them myself, and preserving the chairs. Now, they are my new favorite chairs.

Outdoor Living (and really cheap, beautiful ferns)

I think that this is probably my favorite time of the year. It's time to start going outside for pretty much everything. Reading, eating, entertaining. The spirit of summer swiftly landed on me today, with sunlight and temperatures pushing the mid-80s. This is probably why I have a Cinco de Mayo party every year. I just can't wait until Memorial Day to kick off outdoor living. That, and I just can't pass up a night centered around Mexican beer and hot sauce.

The greening of the yard became official last week when a landscaping truck pulled up in front of my house, loaded with trees. I had six Canadian Hemlocks planted, and as many Leatherleaf Viburnums. While I would have loved to personally dig the holes and plant the trees myself, I just cannot break through the rocky soil, so I had Bill LaFlesh come plant them for me. I am so happy with them, and they have made being in the backyard that much nicer.

I continued readying the yard for summer entertaining by mulching my garden beds, or at least getting started. I am not sure how many yards are in the bags of mulch that I buy, but I got 10 bags today and will need about 20 more to get the whole yard done. I like the spruce/pine mulch because it smells nice naturally, and has a dark color without any artificial dyes. At my local garden center, they have coupons for 10% off purchases of $100 or more, so I took advantage of that by getting as much mulch that could fit in my trunk, a bunch of coleus in different styles and colors, and some English ivy. I checked out the Boston ferns, which were $24 and weren't very big. I decided to shop around for them.

Good thing I did.

Wal-mart had a slew of Boston's lining their garden center. The poor things were out baking in the sun  browning (ferns love shade and water), and just looked like they were dying of thirst. But they were big, and I knew that a good soaking of water and some time left to cool in the shade would bring them back to life. I usually don't buy my plants from Wal-mart but these seemed like they were worth a shot and, God, did they need rescuing.  It wasn't until I paid and checked the receipt that I saw that the ferns were only $10.88 each. I brought them home, put them in coconut-lined hanging baskets -- I always keep them in the plastic and then put the plastic basket (you can't see it) into the pretty coconut-lined one, as the plastic helps retain the plant's moisture -- and gave them a nice soak with the garden hose. Sure enough, they perked up beautifully.

Tonight, as I lay in bed writing this, the breeze is blowing in the aroma of spruce/pine mulch and every part of my body is sore. My hamstrings, my heels, even my fingertips. It's a good feeling though, because I know that it's the product of a lot of hard, physical work. Outdoors.

Oh, Life

It's been about a month since my last post. Life had gotten crazy and I needed to take a break. It's finally mellowing and I've decided to try and write about the domestic aspects of it, once again. While having dinner with friends last night, someone mentioned that I haven't been blogging or facebooking. Though I don't miss facebook, I do miss writing this blog. So here I am again. And to my friends from dinner last night, I am still dreaming about that cracker pizza, even after a huge Easter meal.

During this last month, lots of cool things have occurred. First, Savannah Hope Vintage had their grand re-opening party in the new space on 906 Main Street in Boonton. I had two of three of the kids that night and didn't know if they'd be interested in checking out the reception, but when I pitched it to them, they said that they were up for a party (and had hoped to see the owner's dog, Flynn, who hangs there) so we went. They loved all the reception snacks, including the cheeses and chips that were in the new vintage gallery space that is opening next door. That space is the space of the SHV owner's friend Dean, and will be a gallery that features vintage art. They had everyone write on the walls, because they are going to demo it shortly. I love this painting, so we all signed this wall.

Wall at the gallery, notice the kids graffiti. Vintage art that I want is in the center.

I had a blast at the opening, loving every inch of ADeM's new space. You have to go check it out. It was fantastic! Look, she wrote DG RULES with these wooden blocks.

DG RULES! Oh, get out. You are da bestest, ADeM!

Next was W's sister's shower that I helped plan along with his mother and sister-in-law. We did it all ourselves, for the most part. I brought the linens, stemware, water glasses, and some place settings. W's mom did most of the place settings, the silverware, and the table decorations. We made a wishing well out of a laundry basket, and I die cut a banner that said the bride and groom's names. Family was in from out of town, which was just so much fun, and his sister was just so thrilled to be there. It was sunny and warm, so the little girls got to play outside. We served filtered water in old lemonade glass bottles (old Efferve lemonade bottles are so beautiful), and did lots of fun things to keep the decorating eco-friendly. We sent out personalized recipe cards with the invitations, for people to write their favorite recipes for the bride, and W and the girls made a recipe box in which to house them.

One of the tables at the shower. Spring like and fabulous!

While I didn't cook for the bridal shower, I did happen make a cool pasta salad for Easter today. W and I began the day slowly, which was nice. We went to his parent's house in the afternoon for an Easter egg hunt (that his parents create with great effort and detail each year) and dinner. The boys grilled sliders today, and G made a giant steak with cooked onions for us to eat on rolls. M made deviled eggs (I still want that recipe), and so I made a lemony pasta salad to go with all of it. The pasta salad that I usually make is very Italian and garlicky, and I just thought something lighter was in order. It was a hit, so I am sharing the recipe with you here. It's Neely's Lemon Pasta Salad, but in Neely's, they use peas where I used spinach. I also used half the feta and subbed the other half out with goat cheese, because goat cheese has way less sodium. It was delightfully refreshing. I hope you enjoy it.

neely's lemon pasta salad (modified by DG)

• 1 lb corkscrew pasta  I used tricolor
• 1 lb asparagus
• 2 T Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 c fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 c fresh chopped dill leaves
• 1 c frozen organic spinach, defrosted
• 3 oz. crumbled goat cheese
• 4 oz. crumbled feta

Cook pasta. Drain and set aside.
Blanch asparagus in pot of salted boiling water until bright green and tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from water and shock in ice bath. Dry well. Trim the ends of asparagus and cut into bite size pieces.
Whisk together mustard, garlic, lemon juice, and extra virgin olive oil in a small bowl. Salt and pepper to taste.
Combine asparagus and pasta. Add tomatoes, dill, spinach, crumbled goat and feta. Toss with dressing to coat. Serve cold.

You Can't Spell L-I-F-E Without Bee(s)

Last night, W and I watched a recent episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. I am a big believer and fan of Maher (my apologies to my right-wing readers) and find that I am consistently agreeing with what he has to say. His celebrity guest, on this particular episode, was actress Ellen Page. Instead of talking about the obvious politics of the day (which they did, prior to her joining the panel), Page talked about bees.

As the narrator of the documentary, Vanishing of the Bees, Page and Maher spoke quietly and seriously about the fact that our bees are dying in mass quantites, and at an alarming rate. They're pesky stinging bugs, so why should we care? Well, here's why. We cannot live without bees. Maher read a quote by Einstein to illustrate the importance of this bee issue: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."

This is our problem. We have to worry about our economy, and our jobs, and all the things that we deal with daily. Our environment, as both Maher and Page illustrated, is part of all of that. Why we think that the enviornment can survive until we become more stable in our personal lives is both ignorant and narcissistic. The pesticides we use on our food and our lawns are killing the bees. (Maher even suggests (in his blog post linked below) that cell phone use is a huge factor in the death and destruction of the bee population.) Without bees, there will be an absence of food. We are destroying our environment, living with plastic everything, choosing to use plastic grocery bags instead of reusable ones, and we wonder why the earth is lashing back at us. We are killing our planet.

There is an easy fix, though. To make immediate, easy changes, simply start at home. Only buy organic. If you choose to spend the extra few dollars on food that is grown without the use of pesticides, organic companies will thrive and farmers that aren't going organic will stop using pesticides. Do not eat foods that have GMOs. Save money on your lawn care and cancel your Chem-lawn, or whatever company you pay to spray your lawn with toxic chemicals. Buy organic fertilizer and put it down yourself.  The poisons you put on your grass to kill your weeds, ticks, and everything, is also killing the bees. Those ticks will still come anyway, once the pesticide is washed away, but the environment has already been harmed. Having a clover-filled grass isn't the worst thing in the world. A life without bees, however, just may be.

Gardeners can plant a bee-friendly garden. Plant flowers like hyacinth, calendula, echinacea, cosmos, and wild lilac. Bee balm is an obvious, and fabulous, choice too. Read Plant a Bee Garden by the Honey Bee Conservancy.

Read Maher's post on bees from back in 2007 (which is still current, but perhaps more pressing today) called The Birds, the Bees, and Earth Day.

You can purchase a copy of the DVD Vanishing of the Bees for home screening by clicking here, or to host a public screening (for free or as a fundraiser), see the options provided here.

For more information about bees, visit thehoneybeeconservancy.org.

Tiffany Palisi is a freelance writer and the author of the book, "Mama's World: Essays From the Inside Out." She has interviewed actresses, designers, and entertainers; her favorites include Cynthia Rowley, Patricia Arquette, Tea Leoni, and children's singer Dan Zanes. She is a contributing writer for Mountain Lakes Living magazine. Palisi lives with her family in New Jersey.

The Life List (Spring Renewal)

I woke up this morning to a bitter cold wind, something certainly not suitable for spring. The fact is, though, that spring really is upon us. While it may not be warm enough to start gardening, or to open your windows to do that spring cleaning you're itching to do (oh, how I long to clean my windows), we can do another kind of spring cleaning. We can clean up our lives.

Yesterday, I had hours in my house to just sit and read, nothing else. My son didn't want to leave the house, and no one was coming to visit. (No one ever comes to visit. Maybe I should rethink the pop-in rule...) The book that I am reading, The Blessing of the Animals by Katrina Kittle, is all about a woman reconfiguring her life. It's about soul searching, deciding what matters, and deciding what every aspect of your life would look like, if you could create it. It reminded me of an exercise that I learned a while ago and am preparing to do.

It's called the Life List. It's easy to do, it's fun, and it will help you point your compass in the right direction. Take out a piece of paper and label the top with the things that are in your life. You may include family, career, home, travel, love, friendship, charity. You may just start with one. Now, write a list of what you'd like that aspect of your life to look like. For example, home might say: clean weekly, open space, plant flowers, entertain, buy new art, frame photos. Next, go through your list and see what you have, and what's missing, then figure out the changes that you need to make to have the life you want.

Now, go grab your pen and paper, and have a fun weekend.


Tiffany Palisi is a freelance writer and the author of the book, "Mama's World: Essays From the Inside Out." She has interviewed actresses, designers, and entertainers; her favorites include Cynthia Rowley, Patricia Arquette, Tea Leoni, and children's singer Dan Zanes. She is a contributing writer for Mountain Lakes Living magazine. Palisi lives with her family in New Jersey.

Pop-Ins and Popovers

Popovers or pop-ins. Since you may have imagined that this blog was about popovers that you bake, I am sharing a recipe for them at the bottom of the blog. This, however, is about that moment when there is a knock at your door or a ring of your bell, and you know you aren't expecting anybody. Whether you are cleaning, sitting quietly with a book, or getting out of the shower, that sound means someone has come to visit, uninvited.


In my heart, I like to believe that I have an open door policy. In actuality, I don't. I like to be prepared. Occasionally, a neighbor will ring my bell with a question, and while it still isn't my favorite thing, I get it. They live next door. But when someone drives by, and pops in, well, it really makes me angry.


Here's the latest in a two-day pop in period. My handyman had done some work here at my house. Apparently, he wanted to check on the job, and though he called, he didn't reach me. He did leave a message, but I wasn't prompt in returning the call. I have been very busy, and calling people back about things that aren't pressing just isn't in the forefront of my mind. Anyhow, he decided to stop by. Twice. The first time, my front door was closed. My car was in the driveway so he assumed that I was home, but really, I could have been out with someone else driving, or in the shower, or sleeping, or doing laundry in the basement.


The second time, my front door was open. My house doesn't get a lot of light, so keeping the front door open is important for me. If I keep it closed, the house is much darker. So he came knocking, and I was in a towel, fresh out of the shower, and on the telephone. After much ado, I went to the door just like that. I gestured that I was on the phone and couldn't talk, not to mention undressed, and he just stood there waiting for me to talk to him. So annoying.


In the end, he said he'd wait in his truck for me to get off the phone and to get dressed. I was very irritated. It wasn't even anything important. He just wanted to know how things were going since he completed the work. Did that really require a visit?


I have lost friends due to a breeched pop-in policy. If you keep popping in even after I ask you not to, I push away. What part of Do Not Pop-In is so hard to understand and respect? Most of my friends know better, and probably wouldn't pop over anyhow. But just in case you were thinking about it...

The Barefoot Contessa's Popovers

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus softened butter for greasing pans
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups milk, at room temperature

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Generously grease aluminum popover pans or Pyrex custard cups with softened butter. You’ll need enough pans to make 12 popovers. Place the pans in the oven for exactly 2 minutes to preheat. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, salt, eggs, milk, and melted butter until smooth. The batter will be thin. Fill the popover pans less than half full and bake for exactly 30 minutes. Do not peek.

Tiffany Palisi is a freelance writer and the author of the book, "Mama's World: Essays From the Inside Out." She has interviewed actresses, designers, and entertainers; her favorites include Cynthia Rowley, Patricia Arquette, Tea Leoni, and children's singer Dan Zanes. She is a contributing writer for Mountain Lakes Living magazine. Palisi lives with her family in New Jersey.

What To Do

I am heading out to the dentist, momentarily. I will be having my surgery checked to make sure that my gums are healing as expected. My driveway that was full of snow has, thankfully, been shoveled, but the shock of snow still remains. Afterward, I will head to the gym (I've lost 8.5 lbs in six weeks!) and then come home to shower. All the while, I will be thinking about the women I've spoken with lately, all of whom say the same thing. They never see their husbands.

They seem to be finding that their schedules are keeping them away from their families and their husbands. I wonder, is this happening across the board, or am I just meeting people who are living with these circumstances? Is the hustle worth the separation, worth the distance that it creates? I cannot relate mostly because I don't live with my boyfriend so our circumstances are very different. I see him a couple days a week for dinner, one overnight on the weekend. I don't expect to see him that much. But if I were living with my husband, I'd hope to see him often.

People are losing their homes, and the economy has been raking us all over the coals. I understand why we all need to hustle. But there has to be a better solution. Too many people are splitting up at an alarming rate. We have to value our relationships.

Today my son had a delayed opening, and I happened to catch Ian Kerner (super god to women) with a woman (perhaps a co-writer, or maybe his wife) talking about how to keep marriages alive. I only caught the tail end. They talked about how it's important to keep ourselves looking good, for women to keep up with shaving and dressing nice, and for men to do the same. Either person giving up, getting slovenly, won't help the cause.

But if we never see each other, does it really matter?

I don't know the answer to these questions, but I know that I have to ask them. What are your personal feelings on this? Of course, you can message me privately, but I would love to see you comment here for other people to read. Feel free to keep your comments Anonymous (it's an option).