Spice Rack Project Complete!

It seems I have always had issues with spice storage and it has always frustrated me. Here in Atlanta we have several wonderful Farmers Markets and the one closest to me is the DeKalb Farmers Market. One of my favorite things about this Farmers Market is the assortment of spices, which are bought in bulk then packaged into plastic tubs and priced about 10 - 12 times less than a glass jar you get in the grocery store and have no idea how fresh it is. So I buy the tubs and then I stack them wherever I find room - on the counters, on top of the fridge, in the pantry. And then about once a year I go through and throw away spices that are old, were never used because I forgot I had them, and spices I bought more than once because I forgot I had them.

A couple of years ago I read about an idea involving watchmaker cases onto which you glue magnets and then put these on the fridge. Hmm. Great idea but a bit work intensive what with the gluing and all. Then in February 2007 I began the great kitchen makeover project and this is now my favorite room in the house, although the spice problem still existed.

In March, while I was in Chile, my sister Susannah the new age nun sent me a link to another post about a magnetic spice rack and this time I decided to do it.

Last Saturday I got online to work on my biggest challenge - finding a magnetic whiteboard that wouldn't break the bank. The basic office supply store price for the size I needed was going to run me upwards of $200 and I knew I could do better. I did! I found my board at http://www.ibuyofficesupply.com/ for $79.00!

A word about this website because I always plug a good customer service experience when I find one. The first board arrived, amazingly, Tuesday morning after placing my order Saturday. Excitedly I opened the carton only to find the whiteboard had two very large "creases." I immediately called the customer service number and spoke with a very helpful woman. I told her I had a compliment (how fast I received my order) and a problem (the creases). She said she would take care of it and send me a return authorization via email and get a replacement out to me.

The very next day the UPS truck pulled up with the replacement and a return tag and the exchange was made. Once again I opened the box and the board had the same problem, although the creases were not as pronounced as with the first board. Once again I called customer service and I told them again there was no apparent damage to the packing and I suspected this was a manufacturing problem. She called the warehouse and had them check every one of these boards and Friday a perfect board was delivered. So while it was a little frustrating I have to say this is some of the best customer service experiences I have had.

In the meantime I got on http://www.containerstore.com/ and found my containers. They are 4 ounce, clear-topped white plastic see and store containers with a magnetic back. I ordered 30 of them figuring that was overkill but turns out I have only 4 empty containers left over so I will have to place another order at some point. I already had a Brother labeler and clear label tape so while I was waiting for my board to arrive I got everything labeled and filled.

Yesterday I mounted my board!

The jars are clearly labeled and with the clear tops I can see how much I have and what I need to put on the shopping list.
The board is large (48 x 31) which means I also have plenty of room to jot down shopping list items. It is magnetic which means I can post recipes as I work on them. I am loving this!!

With two small projects down it has been a good week. Total cost for the coat rack project was $15 (cost of the hooks). Total cost for the spice rack project was about $140 (board and jars).

One project down

So OK. One down and 7,000 to go. But one down.

As I mentioned earlier I am going to concentrate for a while on smaller, easier projects that have been put off because I honestly don't know when the phone is going to ring and I'm going to have to haul the suitcase out of the attic and go. So.

Project number one has been put off for about 14 months. I finished my kitchen/mudroom re-do on April 1, 2007 but left a few things undone. One in particular was the lack of a place to hang coats in the mudroom, which is now bright and light and airy but after a year of appreciating this during brief trips home I realized I needed to address the emptiness and tweak a few things.

So.

Coat rack is now complete. Something I put off for 14 months took about 2 hours over 3 days.

Here is the corner before: The door to the left leads to the clost sized laundry room which is where I have been hanging coats in the meantime.

Here is the corner now:

Look at Camille sitting on the step ladder monitoring my progress!

Small Home Projects

Now that I am home I am determine to tackle a few projects. I honestly have no idea when my next travel will be. Could be Monday, could be that I sit on my ass for 18 months like last time. Until all the talk of operational visits and new business die down I really don't want to start a major project. What if I start the bedroom and move the bed out and the next day get called to travel? How would it be to come home on a brief break with my bed in the kitchen? So for now I will stick to small projects that can be easily and quickly completed. I've decided on two that will likely be complete before the beginning of next week.

The Mudroom Coat Rack

I love my mudroom now. Before it was a dark, dingy cluttered space. For the past year, since I re-did it and it was totally transformed into a light, welcoming space, it has been a mostly empty space with the barest of furniture and art. I have been planning to hang a bunch of coat hooks in one corner and this project began today. I cut the board to size for both walls, filled the holes from the previous coat hooks, sanded and primed. I put this thing off for over a year and this took all of one hour. First thing in the morning I will put the first coat of high gloss white paint on it. After work I will mount the boards and add a second coat of paint. By Friday I will have the hooks mounted and it will add so much to the mudroom.

I am still looking for a proper bench to replace the cast off piece of shit I have in there now. A small rug will follow. Also I want to replace the ceiling light fixture since it has a brass base and the kitchen and mudroom have chrome fixtures.

The other project is a spice rack. I have a very samll one that has served for many years but these days I tend to buy my spices fresh and in bulk and for very very cheap at the farmer's market. This leaves me with plastic containers that I end up stacking all over the kitchen and pantry and my little spice rack does not have enough room even if I were to get empty bottles to put the spices in. So I have ordered a large magnetic whiteboard and 30 magnetic, clear topped containers and by the end of the week I will have a wonderful spice rack that is totally visible, close to the stove, and in keeping with the rest of my gorgeous kitchen!

Photos will be on the way!

I miss my friends

That's all.

Plug For Bill and Max

Could I just for a minute plug one of my favorite video bloggers? The remarkable Bill Bowles of last year's mynameisbill.com spent 6 months traveling the world and video blogging about the experience. It opened my eyes.

This summer his project is to travel the Mississippi River from Minneapolis to New Orleans in a rickety old pontoon boat and he and his fellow traveler Max will document every step of the way. on the website http://www.bigrivershow.com/. I really urge you to add this to your summer reading. I know it will be great! As a teaser here is the first post:

Holy Crap!

The most number of viewers I have had on this private little blog in one day since I started it is about 23. On May 27 I had 91!!! What is that about?

Anyway, I am back home in my US home. I landed early this morning. I'm not sure how I'm feeling honestly. I am very very tired. I am happy to be home and to be with my dear cats. I am happy to be in warm weather again. I am happy that I can pay attention to my house after literally 8 months of mostly neglect. Old houses need regular care.

But. BUT. I miss Chile already and the friends I made there. This experience was very much unlike Japan. My Japanese colleagues were friendly to a certain point but were never friends. My Chilean colleagues, especially Eduardo and his family, became true friends. And I have to stop talking about this now or I will cry. Need to get more distance before I can write about it.

Until I pull myself together I have a funny story and I hope it ends up not being a "guess you had to be there" story. When I was back home in early April I bought a mouse. A wireless mouse with a bunch of neat features to allow me to navigate spreadsheets faster and more efficiently and most important without wires. Great mouse. As soon as I got back to Chile Lazo started making comments about it and I thought about getting one for his birthday but got something else instead. He kept making comments and by the end of April I was pretty sure I would not leave Chile with my mouse.

Wednesday (and I am not sure how this started) Lazo decided he wanted to go through the contents of my purse. He and Sam consider me one of the boys and I think he wanted to see how much of a girl I am by what I carried with me. He got lots of laughs out of the nail file and the cuticle clipper and howled at my passport photo (the worst in history) and then he found my little tiny purse where I keep my US currency. I had $41 plus some change in it and he took it out and pocketed it and I let him have it for a while and then told him to give it back. He finally turned it over. Then he asked me how much I paid for the mouse. I pulled up my Best Buy account and told him $84 including tax. I had every intention of coming back and buying one and sending it back to him but didn't tell him this. He told me that he wanted to buy mine and since it was used I really should not expect more than 50%, or $42 and since he had just given me $41 he owed me a dollar. So we traded mice. Or mouses. And now I am stuck with his crappy little wireless mouse until I can get back to Best Buy. I might wait a while. Every time I use it I giggle about the Lazo logic behind his "purchase" of my used equipment.

Also I would like to point out that he still owes me $1.

Saco.

Completos and Girlie Stuff

Friday night I took Eduardo and Carol out. They have done so much for me and Sam too - bringing me into their family, including me, welcoming me into their home. I wanted to take them out and treat them and Carol chose the place and she is so good at finding a good place. It was a great night. Before we even got to the restaurant Eduardo told me I would come to their apartment Saturday for "completos" which is Chilean for hot dogs with the works. It was the weirdest thing I have ever seen. I can't even describe what is put on hot dogs here. Tomatoes, guacamole, mayonnaise . . . I had to document this. I couldn't help myself.

You start with a hot dog on a large bun and fill it with fresh chopped tomatoes:

Next slather it with guacamole:

Add some spicy mayonnaise:

On top of that add ketchup:

and of course don't forget the mustard:

And VOILA! You have an authentic Chilean Completo!

It takes a big mouth to eat one of these things and Eduardo is well equipped:

When you've gorged on completos the only thing natural is to doze in front of a soccer game on TV:

While the guys were being guys in front of the TV Carol and her good friend Alejandra (Ally) got out the nail supplies at the big dining table and even though I was called a traitor for doing it I was intrigued and went to sit with the girls. Ally wanted to do my nails which was really embarrassing for me because I don't ever do my nails and when under stress I chew my cuticles and I am just a mess. But she told me to trust her and she would make them look good. She worked and worked and lord help me if she wasn't right! My hands almost look normal now:

See the pretty little flower on my ring finger? I have a flower on my thumbs too!

I love these people. I want to live here. I want to drive home from work every night and see the Andes. I want to hang out with great people on the weekends and watch Top Gun with my boys and do beauty shop with my girls. I want to buy a house here and have these people over and treat them as well as they have treated me.