day one hundred eighty-three and day one hundred eighty-four.

Drywall! 

Day One Hundred Eighty-three 2/27/10 

Dress: Blue Cotton Layer/Ruffle Dress

Purchased From: Thrift Fair

Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010

Price: $3.95

Accessories: Jeans, Hunter Wellies, Deer necklace, 

Hair and Makeup: large barrel curling iron, no makeup for most of the day, a little at night

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: none that I can remember

Day: 

Somehow I slept through people dry walling the floor above me and stayed in bed until almost noon.  I ran out of the house to work a bit and then Michael and I headed to Wayne to help my siter-in-law and her boyfriend move into their new apartment.  We stayed for a while and I set up their kitchen to make up for sleeping so late and missing the big lifting.  We got back late and our friend Dave, affectionately known as Punk Rock Dave was in town for work so he came over and we headed out and we drank, and drank.  It was fun but we all hurt a lot today, especially poor Dave.  Oops. We might have broken him. 

Day One Hundred Eighty-Four 2/28/10 

Dress: Pink Star Pattern Sundress

Purchased From: Conway

Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010

Price: $4.99  but I just found the receipt and it rang up for $1.  Awesome.

Accessories: Black tights, hunter wellies, grey cardigan

Hair and Makeup: brushed, usual makeup

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: I think Michael but I can't remember

Day: 

First of all, I love this dress and it made me happy every time I looked at the pattern.  Score. I'm totally wearing it to bed tonight too since it is actually a nightgown.  

We woke up around 1PM and I headed out to work a bit before venturing home to attempt a trip to meet up with my brother and his wife at Jose's for yummy Mexican food.  They were closed so we went to Taco Riendo instead.  Poor Dave was still heavily nursing his hangover so our hangout time was cut short so he could go get some rest before driving back to Jersey. Michael I and took this time to go to Ikea and pick out some stuff for our third floor.  We found a sink and a wardrobe/closet solution.   We came home and spent the rest of the night relaxing on the couch.  Now I must go to bed and admit that tomorrow is Monday.  Oh bother. 

day one hundred eighty-one and day one hundred eighty-two.

Day One Hundred Eighty-one 2/25/10 
Dress: Black Converse Cotton Dress
Purchased From: Thrift Fair
Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010
Price: $3.95
Accessories: jeans, grey cardigan, green hunter wellies, cream knit hat
Hair and Makeup: up in a hat, usual makeup, extra grey eyeshadow
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: n/a
Day: 

Day One Hundred Eighty-two 2/26/10 

Dress: Grey V-neck Cotton Dress

Purchased From: Thrift Fair

Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010

Price: $3.95

Accessories: Black corduroy pants, crazy white faux fur hate, black snow boots, NIGHT: teal tights, black legwarmers, black and pink champion high-tops, ribcage necklace

Hair and Makeup: large barrel curling iron, usual makeup, extra black eyeyshadow, plumping lip gloss

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: MIchael's "I like your face" and a necklace compliment

Today was a little movieesque and involved a broken elevator, traipsing up twelve flights of stairs, snow, a food tour of South Philadelphia, a fancy whisky drink and a thrift store.  I'm too tired/a little tipsy and I know I owe two good days of boring life stories but I'll have to keep owing them for now.  

day one hundred eighty.

Day One Hundred Eighty 2/24/10 
Dress: Magenta Shift Dress (with pockets!)
Purchased From: Thrift Fair
Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010
Price: $3.95
Accessories: Day: grey tights, grey and black striped knee socks, black leg warmers, black snow boots, black cardigan, Evening: Black tights, black heels, black cardigan, black and cream lace trim coat
Hair and Makeup: brushed, usual makeup
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Stephanie liked my coat and couldn't believe I walked dogs in a dress
Day: 


It was a crazy busy day.  I worked and made a quick trip to whole foods before coming home to change part of my outfit so Michael and I could head over to a viewing for a friend's Mom.   I was afraid my dress was too short and tight so I wore a light material coat and kept it on the whole time.  We got home after ten and I whipped up some dinner of veggie kielbasa, boxed mashed potatoes (I know, gross) and veggie baked beans.  The end. 

day one hundred seventy-nine.

red eye auto correct made my eyes a little wonky

Day One Hundred Seventy-nine 2/23/10 
Dress: Floral Sundress
Purchased From: Thrift Fair
Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010
Price: $3.95
Accessories: Green tank top, yellow cardigan, black tights, brown pom-pom knee socks, hunter wellies
Hair and Makeup: Clean and blown out straight, usual makeup
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Michael said "I like your hair and your face" 
Day: 


I like this dress and will be happy to own it when it's 99 degrees and humid.  Since it was a crappy rainy day I thought I'd dress bright and try to heighten my mood.  It sort of worked until my coat became soaked through. Oh well.  I'm so tired.  I was a good girl and went to the gym today but getting back into it is killing me.  I don't think the rain or the long day of working in it helped much.  I'm off to bed.  

day one hundred seventy-eight.

Day One Hundred Seventy-eight 2/22/10 
Dress: Grey Velvet Overall/Sack Dress
Purchased From: Thrift Fair
Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010
Price: $1.95
Accessories: Black and white sweater, navy blue tights, black tasseled leg warmers, black snow boots, grey flower headband
Hair and Makeup: Brushed and huge so thrown into two pigtails with a headband, usual makeup, minimal eye makeup because Urban Decay's primer potion causes eyeball allergies and they're all gross and red right now.
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Several hair comments, Michael said "I like this dress, kind of" 
Day: 




Bellyaching, god damn bellyaching all day long.  It's probably all that milk I consumed eating cereal for dinner last night. I bet Seinfeld never had this problem.  I woke up and took Michael to the train really early since he had jury duty. I came home and climbed back into bed with my cats and slept for another hour before getting up to face the day all full of milk ache.  I worked, went to Essene for veggie items, popped into Decade's Vintage and bought a clearance dress and then came home and couched it up for a few hours.  I finally got up and made dinner, something I wasn't really into since food was not on my to do list so much.  Being hungry and having a stomachache at the same time is really annoying.  I made baked potatoes, bbq smoked tofu and broccoli.  We watched the last quarter of Forrest Gump (gets me every time) and now I'm headed to bed.  I hear rain, it's such a lovely noise at night when I'm not out traipsing around in it.  I hope it stops by morning. 


I like this weirdo dress, it's nice to wear a sweater since I've been wearing dresses constantly and this allows me to do so plus I do love those pockets.  It's not at all flattering but hey, I was wearing to walk dogs on a Monday. 

day one hundred seventy-seven.

Day One Hundred Seventy-seven 2/21/10 
Dress: Brown Tank Dress
Purchased From: Thrift Fair
Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010
Price: $2.95
Accessories: Blue cardigan, pink tights, purple argyle socks, tan legwarmers by Old Fashioned Goodness,neck warmer by Jody, one grey arm warmer
Hair and Makeup: so knotty- thrown into two crazy buns/pig tails, only black eye liner
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Several dress/blog comments, Michael liked my boots 
Day: 


This dress is just meh.  I didn't try it at the dressing roomless thrift store and that's fine.  I was able to gauge that it wouldn't flatter or falter me.  It's brown and cotton and good for a weekend of lounging or working inside.  I paired it with a boatload of accessories to spruce it up.
 
I heard it was a nice day today.  The closest thing I got to fresh air was opening the back door to taunt the cats, knowing they wouldn't step foot onto wet cement.  I spent the day cooking and cleaning, way to be stereotypical Abby.  I made us a nice breakfast of veggie bacon and eggs and fruit, english muffins, and mashed potato pancakes.    Since I spent most of my calories on breakfast I spent the whole rest of the day avoiding food by cleaning our bedroom.  I think this is the third time I've attempted this feat in 177 days.   Eventually when our third floor is complete and I have triple the space I'll find a place for everything and put it there.  If it doesn't fit I will acquit, wait what, I mean I'll donate it.  The cleaning task is not yet complete even after five solid hours.  I still have to tackle my vanity, one corner and all dresser tops.  Should be a real hoot! I now have three large bags of socks, each bag denoting color: black, white or light and patterned.  I am so excited about matching them all!  I played the put stuff on while I'm cleaning game which is why so many accessories today. Since we ate a big breakfast for lunch we ate a small breakfast for dinner just to be even cooler.  We ate cereal and veggie bacon and watched Archer. Now I must go sleep since early rising is in order.  

day one hundred seventy-six.

Day One Hundred Seventy-six 2/20/10 
Dress: Navy Blue Vneck Dress
Purchased From: Thrift Fair
Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010
Price: $3.95
Accessories: Black and white striped cardigan, yellow tights, hunters, blue and yellow striped socks, argyle belt used for a choker/necklace
Hair and Makeup: rag curled and knotted and pinned back with bobby pins in the front, usual makeup with lots of blue and green eyeshadow
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Several dress/blog comments, Michael liked my boots 
Day: 


Since I already blogged today about yesterday this feels weird.  It was a nice day, despite my hangover.  I found everything funny and I was really happy.  We lunched at El Camino Real and later went to North Bowl to celebrate our cousin Georgie's birthday.  Now it's time to snuggle and watch Lucky Louie, an act I find way better than writing a boring blog.  

day one hundred seventy-five.

 post nap

Day One Hundred Seventy-five 2/19/10 
Dress: Grey Cotton Vneck Dress
Purchased From: Thrift Fair
Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010
Price: $2.95
Accessories: during the day but not photographed: hunters, orange tights, black cardigan, lloyd dobbler necklace- after the gym and at home and photographed: grey yoga pants
Hair and Makeup: rag curled and knotted and pinned up in spots, usual makeup
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: hair compliments, Michael liked my dress
Day: 




Sorry I didn't update yesterday.  As I was about to update and go to bed a slew of friends arrived and we stayed up until 5am drinking fancy scotch whiskey and playing Apples to Apples.  It was loads of fun. 


Before that it was a typical day.  Despite the Friday feature of the day we didn't have any plans for the night.  I worked, went to the gym (yeah three days in one week and a pound down!) even though I realized when I got there that I did not have my clothes with me as I had taken them into the house for sorting/washing.  I promptly took my butt across the shopping center to Payless and Mad Rag (what a terrible name for  a store) and bought some ridiculous black and pink Champion high tops reminiscent of my 7th grade sneakers and a pair of yoga pants.  Take that shitty memory and poor planning.  I showed you.  After the gym I came home to make a low calorie and super yummy dinner.  I opted for the old throw some random shit together and call it a dinner recipe.  I threw some Quorn naked cutlets into a cast iron pan and browned them a bit and then cut them up into strips and put them to the side.  I then sauteed some zucchini, grape tomatoes, and onion and added my throw some shit into the food processor sauce (greek yogurt, oregano, parsley, a few kalamata olives and grape tomatoes, olive oil, salt, pepper, and one clove of garlic) and then added the veg chicken. I served it all with some feta cheese, kalamata olives, fresh spinach, the rest of the sauce and pita bread. It was super yummy.  I stuffed my face and then Michael and I fell asleep on the couch hard.  I woke up in lots of pain around 11:30. Way to be awesome on a Friday night.  I started collecting the trash and took it out and that's when Orsborn showed up .  A little while later Jess, Steve and John came over and the shenanigans began.  It was a super fun night of shit talking, drinking and apples to apples.  I woke up at 10:45 with a wicked headache. Yup.

day one hundred seventy-four.

Day One Hundred Seventy-four 2/18/10 
Dress: Purple Pocketed Sundress
Purchased From: Super Thrift, or as I realized it's actually called today, Thrift Fair
Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010
Price: $2.95
Accessories: Amazing Drawstring Neck Cowl by Rachel Turanski of Off The Chain Designs, hunters, jeans, blue cardigan
Hair and Makeup: rag curled, usual makeup
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: hair compliments
Day: 


So tired and some huge house stuff delivery is coming tomorrow so I have to go to sleep now.  It was a good day, my dress was comfortable and and I love its pockets. Word. 

day one hundred seventy-three.

Day One Hundred Seventy-three 2/17/10 
Dress: Black Marilyn Monroe Cotton Sundress
Purchased From: Conway
Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010
Price: $3.00
Accessories: Amazing Drawstring Neck Cowl by Rachel Turanski of Off The Chain Designs, hunters, jeans, black cardigan, blue fingerless anchor gloves
Hair and Makeup: rag curled, "newly  minted" mac eyeshadow with green eyeliner
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: hair compliments
Day: 




So tired.  Our construction starts at 8am so we do too, even if I went to bed at 2AM.  And I was a good girl and went to the gym today.   That's probably why I fell asleep on the couch for awhile and need to head to bed very soon.  It was a usual day.  I woke up and hung out while two dudes worked on the plumbing and framing of our new master bathroom.  I worked, went to the gym and came home to make a yummy healthy dinner of smoked tofu and cashews seared and glazed with teriyaki sauce, over rice with a side of edamame and a small salad. Sooo good but it needed a side of steamed broccoli.  We rewatched all of Lost in its entirety and a few episodes of Venture Bros.  See, boring, usual Wednesday.  We were both excited to see that the framing is up for our bathroom.  It's sad to see the room broken up but it will be worth it to have an awesome bathroom. 

day one hundred seventy-two.

Day One Hundred Seventy-two 2/16/10 
Dress: Floral Night Shirt Dress
Purchased From: Conway
Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010
Price: $3.99
Accessories: Amazing Drawstring Neck Cowl by Rachel Turanski of Off The Chain Designs, hunters, jeans, blue cardigan
Hair and Makeup: rag curled and pinned up into buns, usual makeup, no eyeliner
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: none 
Day: 


The construction has started.  Weeeee! See that picture there, that used to be the home of a closet but it got demolished today.  We have to pick our bathtub and tile and fixtures so they can be ordered post haste.  I'm super excited! After four years we'll have a master bedroom and bathroom!  I spent the day working, lots.  Trying to park is very challenging and I was a bit a stressed today so I absentmindedly locked my keys in a client's house while I had their dog outside.  D'oh.  Luckily a neighbor had a spare and the crisis was averted.  It was so late when I got done working that I just headed to Target to return a dress (and buy a new one) and get some fixings for dinner. I made veggie cheesesteaks with baked cheetos on the side.  So trashy and so good.  The night was officially ruined when our dvr decided that our two requests to cancel the Star Trek recording in favor of Lost went ignored and we missed the first 17 minutes of Lost.  Thanks Comcast.  It'd be swell if your dvr wasn't so infuriating, and craptastic.  Ugh.  I'm going to go obsess over tile and fixtures for our new bathroom.  We're leaning towards this beauty for our tub: 

Once it's done I'll be all "aveeno take me away" because I'm allergic to Calgon.

day one hundred seventy-one.

Day One Hundred Seventy-one 2/15/10 
Dress: Vintage Maroon Sears Dress
Purchased From: Circle Thrift
Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010
Price: $5.00
Accessories: Amazing Drawstring Neck Cowl by Rachel Turanski of Off The Chain Designs, hunters, striped socks, black tights
Hair and Makeup: leftover fancy hair pinned up with weird bangs, usual makeup
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Michael called me matronly and a librarian.
Day: 


I got this dress at Circle Thrift last week on Thursday.  I was killing time until Michael's train came so I could pick him up.  Lately I can go there once a week and get at least one dress.  Love it.  The neck cowl was purchased on Saturday and I am in love with it.  It kept me warm and toasty all day and I think it looks awesome.  


Today was back to work.  I was actually not terribly late for most of my jobs, though traffic was still a hot mess because of icy, crappy roads.  I love watching the news and hearing about how the Mayor is pretty happy with the city's snow removal.  He should probably drive around the city a little bit because I am pretty sure that the snow/ice melting on its own doesn't actually fall into the category of snow removal.    I finally made it to the gym today after at least two weeks of neglect.  I'm back on the diet train with hopes of 20lbs. by late June.  That'd be swell.  For dinner I made a low calorie, tasty, pretty meal of a naked Quorn cutlet with roasted asparagus and grape tomatoes over sauteed kale with crumble feta cheese, a box tomato basil risotto and a spinach salad.  It was pretty tasty.  My body is not used to the gym so I totally took a power nap after dinner, maybe not the best idea.  I'm still tired so I think I'll shower and maybe rag curl my hair and get myself to bed at a reasonable time.  


I suppose I should detail our disastrous ravioli valentine's dinner but I just don't feel like it.  It involved dropping a lot of stuff on the floor, including an entire box of cheerios, and a few tears.  I don't think we'll be attempting pasta from scratch anytime soon, or at least not on any holiday.  

day one hundred seventy.

Day One Hundred Seventy 2/14/10 
Dress: Black and White Striped Sweater Dress
Purchased From: Target
Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010
Price: $14.99
Accessories:
Hair and Makeup: fancy pants hair by Salon Blush , usual makeup
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Michael
Day: 


I love this dress.  It was one of the few things that made me happy today.  I have wanted it for months but didn't want to pay full price.  The stars aligned and I found it on the clearance rack last week.  My hair stayed in all night.  I am impressed. 


Valentine's Day turned out to be an epic fail because we tried our hand at making ravioli.  Four hours later we had a mess of dinner on our plates.  I'm too exhausted to go into detail right now so I'll save that story for tomorrow.  We're going to have a Valentine's Day redo date night to make up for this stupid day.   We did find out that our friends Bill and Marissa got engaged today so that restored my faith in the day.  Congrats! 

day one hundred sixty-nine.

Day One Hundred Sixty-nine 2/13/10
Dress: Red Vintage Party Dress
Purchased From: Sazz Vintage
Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010
Price: $26.00
Accessories: 
Hair and Makeup: fancy pants hair by Salon Blush , pin up makeup
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Lots of hair and dress compliments
Day: 


Happy Valentine's Day.  I'm too drunky for a full blog. Pictures only!

day one hundred sixty-eight.

Day One Hundred Sixty-eight 2/12/10
Dress: Blue Floral Vintage Dress
Purchased From: Super Thrift
Year or Era Purchased: Winter 2010
Price: $3.95
Accessories:  grey tights, black socks, green wellies, pink hat
Hair and Makeup: Double Pigtails, usual makeup with electric blue eyeshadow
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: A client complimented my makeup
Day: 




I love this dress. I feel like I wasted it on today since today evoked anger.  It was made up mostly of insane traffic.  It took me almost an hour to go 18 blocks.  This city's roads are beyond horrible, especially our neighborhood.  I was cranky for a large part of the day and barely accomplished anything.  At least it's the weekend already.  I am so over winter.  I'm going to bed soon so this day will be over faster.  


The only good part about today was stumbling upon these snow sculptures in Washington Square Park:

and this one on 11th and Pine:

day one hundred sixty-seven.

Day One Hundred Sixty-seven 2/11/10
Dress: Black and White Patterned Dress
Purchased From: Clothing swap
Year or Era Purchased: Fall 2009
Price: $Free
Accessories:  black tights, navy blue and green poof socks socks, green wellies, black cardigan, squirrel and bird necklace, black belt
Hair and Makeup: Low bun with bangs, usual makeup
Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Michael
Day: 


So this dress was too long and too big and not flattering and I wasn't all about it until  I gathered the fabric on each side and pinned it up.  I also added a belt to give it some shape.  I was not all about the snow/cabin fever weight gain I noticed in my belly region.  It better stop snowing so I can get my ass back into the gym 3-4 days a week.  


I had another snow day today.  As of 12:30PM my last scheduled client called to cancel.  That was a relief.  I still ventured out as our roommate Steve caused an intense shepherd's pie craving.  Driving on our street is so sketchy and horrible.  Fishtown is ridiculous.  I ventured out for shopping purposes- grocery store, Target, beer store, thrift store.  Ok, ok the thrift store was just to kill time so I could pick up Michael from the train but I did score two dresses there!  I also scored two at Target, both on clearance.  I almost never buy clothes full price there.  I just stalk the clearance section religiously.  I spent $34 on four dresses today between both stores.  Win. 


After we came home and I half parked half slid into a parking spot I commenced with the cooking while Michael helped the neighbors pick axe and shovel at our icy street to ensure cars didn't get stuck and drive into our cars. Sometimes it sucks being the first right turn off of a major interstate.  


I should have read my recipes before cooking.  The shepherd's pie took me way longer than I thought it would, about two hours.  I combined a few recipes and came up with this one: 


VEGETARIAN SHEPHERD'S PIE

SERVES 6-8

Seitan and Vegetable Filling:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tubs (24oz) seitan, rinsed and chopped
• 2 cups onions, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped
• 4-5 parsnips, chopped
• 1/2 bag baby carrots, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
• 1 carton mushrooms, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 7 ounces red wine
• 2 1/2 ounces Vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 2-3 tablespoons Bragg's Amino Acids
• Sea salt and Cracked Pepper to taste

Mashed Potato Topping:

• 3 1/2 lbs yukon gold potatoes
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup half and half or milk

1. In a large frying pan, heat the oil until hot, add the seitan, garlic and salt and pepper.  Fry until well browned, turning frequently, approximately 15-20 minutes.  A cast iron skillet works great for this
2. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside
3. Chop the vegetables (except for the corn and peas and onions) and toss to coat with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast in the oven until tender.  380 degrees for 15 minutes.  Set aside with the seitan
4. Boil the corn and peas as directed on their package, drain and set aside with the other vegetables and seitan
5. Add the onion to the pan with the thyme and garlic and a 2 tablespoons of butter,and cook until soft and translucent. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes
6. Add the seitan and vegetable mixture and tomato purée and stir
7. Add the red wine, Bragg's and vegetarian Worcestershire sauce and cook until the liquid has reduced to half the original volume. 
8. Add the vegetable stock, bring back to the boil, then simmer for 30-40 minutes. The mixture should be thick and glossy. Allow to cool, then check the seasoning. 
9. Boil potatoes, drain, and mash until creamy and smooh, adding the butter and half and half to your taste
10. Put the seitan and vegetable mixture into a large baking dish, then top with the mashed potatoes. Use a fork to rough up the top.
11. Place in a preheated oven at 400°F for 20-30 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown in color.

Ok, that took equally long to post so I'm off to bed now.  Goodnight.