Blog
Friday Favorites
Heidi Shenk "friday favorites"
It's been a productive week and I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend. As we wrap up the week, I thought I'd share a few things that I'm loving these days.
These bright color block necklaces are just what I need to spruce up my favorite light gray tee I've been wearing non-stop.
I wouldn't mind having this mint tee. It would also help me get away from the over used light gray tee. Though it would only feed my current obsession with mint.
This sterling silver ring has such a simple design that is right down my alley.
Anyone else jumping on the triangle train? I sure am with this cuff!
And this washi tape. Triangles and awesome colors scheme!
This print would make a good addition to our row house.
And for your reading pleasure...
Thug Kitchen always dishes out the best fucking recipes and they do what they damn well please. (Just click the link and you'll know why I'm cursing.) It won't disappoint. You're welcome.
This post on SEO basics for bloggers is extremely useful whether you just started blogging or have been blogging for a while.
And cookies that also have Oreos in them? Isn't that like a cookie within a cookie? And how can that not be good? This Cookies and Cream Cookies recipe is one that I will be trying!
What are some of your favorites this week? Any big plans for the weekend? I'd love to know!
These bright color block necklaces are just what I need to spruce up my favorite light gray tee I've been wearing non-stop.
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| via Oh Nostalgia Designs |
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| via The Printed Palette |
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| via Swell Caroline |
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| via Peace Love Beach |
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| via The Creative Stash |
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| via Pink Fox Designs |
Thug Kitchen always dishes out the best fucking recipes and they do what they damn well please. (Just click the link and you'll know why I'm cursing.) It won't disappoint. You're welcome.
This post on SEO basics for bloggers is extremely useful whether you just started blogging or have been blogging for a while.
And cookies that also have Oreos in them? Isn't that like a cookie within a cookie? And how can that not be good? This Cookies and Cream Cookies recipe is one that I will be trying!
What are some of your favorites this week? Any big plans for the weekend? I'd love to know!
Sonoma Chicken Salad Recipe
Heidi Shenk "recipe"
Several summers ago, before I moved to Baltimore, I worked for a friend who owned a bagel shop. At lunch he would serve not just bagels, but sandwiches as well. One of the menu items was a Sonoma Chicken Salad Sandwich. I have never been a huge fan of chicken salad, but this salad has become one that I truly love. It is fresh tasting, flavorful, and perfect to make in a large batch to have for lunches throughout the week. I opt to serve the chicken salad in pitas rather than bread which makes it more manageable to eat as chicken salad can sometimes get messy. We even took Sonoma Chicken Salad pitas to the Orioles game on Tuesday night for dinner!
Sonoma Chicken Salad (adapted from here)
What you'll need
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 5 tsp honey
- 4 tsp cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp yellow mustard
- 2 tsp poppy seeds
- 3 poached chicken breasts, shredded
- 2 cups of red seedless grapes
- 3 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Directions
Poach chicken breasts and then shred into small pieces using your fingers or a fork. Let chicken cool and refrigerate while making the dressing. In a large bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, honey, vinegar, mustard, and poppy seeds. Refrigerate the dressing while chopping the celery and pecans. Using a small knife, slice the grapes in half. Add the grapes, celery, pecans, and chicken to the large bowl with the dressing and thoroughly incorporate all ingredients. Serve in pitas. If I have some on hand, I often serve with a few pieces of lettuce to line the pita.
Basement Renovation: Part I
Heidi Shenk "home" "year of the house"
Today, I show you a part of our house that I hate on so many levels. The basement. I have always hated this part of our house since we bought it three years ago. I wish that we would have tackled the issues right away, but because it is the basement it seemed easier to pretend it didn't exist.
I have some photos to start with so that you will truly understand why it has become imperative that we fix the issues. And we have already started to fix the issues as of two weekends ago. Before I show the photos, there are some important things to note so that you won't judge me. (But you probably will anyway. Ha!)
1. The basement is our place to put shit that we don't know what to do with. And those lovely piles of crap that you see are soon on their way to Goodwill or the dump. That's why they are piled there. They are the "get rid of" piles that began as much smaller piles 3 weeks ago.
2. Please excuse the dog hair. We haven't swept in the basement for the past two weeks because we've been moving so much stuff around while installing cabinets and painting walls and such. And of course being that it's currently 95 degrees in Baltimore, Lilah is shedding at an exponential rate. Yes, we are gross. The carpet picks up anything and is something we've wanted to rip out and replace since day one.
3. This is the room we spend the least amount of time in. We've actually started spending more time here because of Orioles games. The tv is in the basement and we watch a lot of baseball. Spending more time here in the past month has led us to become increasingly annoyed at the basement.
Now that I've gotten my much needed disclaimers out of the way, let's take a look. Check out this awesomely disgusting room that is partially not disgusting in the small baby steps we have already taken.
Issue #1: The builder that rehabbed our row house decided it was a great idea to frame out the gas and water accesses with molding and then close them off with white painted plywood screwed into the wall. 1) We can't easily get to the hookups to turn them off in case of an emergency. 2) It is so ugly and makes them stick out even more. 3) Both are larger than need be by about double, so we have built in shelving and drywall patching plans for both.
Issue #2: Along one wall, there was a foot deep concave space in two areas. The ledge, as we called it, was not functional other than to set crap on and hold our tv, stereo, dvd player, Wii, and a gazillion wires. We wanted to put in built-in cabinets, but that isn't in our budget right now. Instead, we purchased $200 worth of white Ikea shelving units, about $50 worth of white melamine coated plywood and made it look like built-ins (sort of). We decided to paint the backs orange for a bright pop of color. We still need to finish that paint job, as you can see.
Issue #3: The walls and carpet are awful. The walls are half-painted with a new gray blue color. Andrew decided on the color scheme because he wanted something very modern. The orange and the blue gray is definitely modern. It took me a while to decide if I liked it or not, but I've decided that I do. I think I will like it even more once the carpet is gone. We're planning on removing the carpet and putting in bamboo flooring. It is affordable and durable if you get the right kind. The white walls that were originally part of the basement were done in a flat white and were dirty and scuffed from people bumping things into the walls. The carpet was already fairly scuzzy when we moved in and continued to get scuzzier due to having a chocolate lab. White Berber carpet and labs just don't mix.
Issue #4: Take a look behind the couch. There is a little bump out ledge along that wall. We've decided that once the flooring and everything else is done, we will move the couch along the short wall with the window. It'll make the room feel wider since the ledge is eating up a foot of space. We have thought about doing some built in seating on top of the ledge, but we're not sure yet.
Issue #5: This is more like a bunch of issues rolled up in one--
The drafting table and chair that you see on the right in the photo above are eating up tons of space. Andrew wanted to keep that so that he would have a space to work at home. Truth is that he has probably used his drafting table three times since we bought the house and even he is getting sick of it. There was this epiphany moment the other day when he said, "I think I'm going to put the drafting table and chair on Craigslist because I'm getting sick of it!" Woooohoooo! I hadn't said a word to him about how annoying it was because I was worried he'd give me the good old "but that's my drafting table" spiel.
The coffee table. It is ugly and was inherited from a previous tenant of the first apartment I had in Baltimore. It needs to go.
The dog crate. Lilah loves her crate. She sleeps in it at night and often during the day too. She goes to her crate when she is feeling stressed out or just needs her own space. It has to stay for Lilah's well-being, but it's so huge and we're not sure where to put it. It most likely will stay in its current place. We think that once the drafting table is gone it won't feel as big.
The stereo and Wii. We need a better piece of furniture than the ugly black cart they are currently sitting on.
As for the piles of crap, they will soon be on their way to Goodwill. Also, while it may appear as though we have guitars strewn all over the place, three of those will go back to their mounts on the wall behind the couch after the wall gets a second coat of paint.
I'll be updating you a bit as we continue this project. As for you, any huge undertakings that you've been doing lately?
I have some photos to start with so that you will truly understand why it has become imperative that we fix the issues. And we have already started to fix the issues as of two weekends ago. Before I show the photos, there are some important things to note so that you won't judge me. (But you probably will anyway. Ha!)
1. The basement is our place to put shit that we don't know what to do with. And those lovely piles of crap that you see are soon on their way to Goodwill or the dump. That's why they are piled there. They are the "get rid of" piles that began as much smaller piles 3 weeks ago.
2. Please excuse the dog hair. We haven't swept in the basement for the past two weeks because we've been moving so much stuff around while installing cabinets and painting walls and such. And of course being that it's currently 95 degrees in Baltimore, Lilah is shedding at an exponential rate. Yes, we are gross. The carpet picks up anything and is something we've wanted to rip out and replace since day one.
3. This is the room we spend the least amount of time in. We've actually started spending more time here because of Orioles games. The tv is in the basement and we watch a lot of baseball. Spending more time here in the past month has led us to become increasingly annoyed at the basement.
Now that I've gotten my much needed disclaimers out of the way, let's take a look. Check out this awesomely disgusting room that is partially not disgusting in the small baby steps we have already taken.
Issue #1: The builder that rehabbed our row house decided it was a great idea to frame out the gas and water accesses with molding and then close them off with white painted plywood screwed into the wall. 1) We can't easily get to the hookups to turn them off in case of an emergency. 2) It is so ugly and makes them stick out even more. 3) Both are larger than need be by about double, so we have built in shelving and drywall patching plans for both.
Issue #2: Along one wall, there was a foot deep concave space in two areas. The ledge, as we called it, was not functional other than to set crap on and hold our tv, stereo, dvd player, Wii, and a gazillion wires. We wanted to put in built-in cabinets, but that isn't in our budget right now. Instead, we purchased $200 worth of white Ikea shelving units, about $50 worth of white melamine coated plywood and made it look like built-ins (sort of). We decided to paint the backs orange for a bright pop of color. We still need to finish that paint job, as you can see.
Issue #3: The walls and carpet are awful. The walls are half-painted with a new gray blue color. Andrew decided on the color scheme because he wanted something very modern. The orange and the blue gray is definitely modern. It took me a while to decide if I liked it or not, but I've decided that I do. I think I will like it even more once the carpet is gone. We're planning on removing the carpet and putting in bamboo flooring. It is affordable and durable if you get the right kind. The white walls that were originally part of the basement were done in a flat white and were dirty and scuffed from people bumping things into the walls. The carpet was already fairly scuzzy when we moved in and continued to get scuzzier due to having a chocolate lab. White Berber carpet and labs just don't mix.
Issue #4: Take a look behind the couch. There is a little bump out ledge along that wall. We've decided that once the flooring and everything else is done, we will move the couch along the short wall with the window. It'll make the room feel wider since the ledge is eating up a foot of space. We have thought about doing some built in seating on top of the ledge, but we're not sure yet.
Issue #5: This is more like a bunch of issues rolled up in one--The drafting table and chair that you see on the right in the photo above are eating up tons of space. Andrew wanted to keep that so that he would have a space to work at home. Truth is that he has probably used his drafting table three times since we bought the house and even he is getting sick of it. There was this epiphany moment the other day when he said, "I think I'm going to put the drafting table and chair on Craigslist because I'm getting sick of it!" Woooohoooo! I hadn't said a word to him about how annoying it was because I was worried he'd give me the good old "but that's my drafting table" spiel.
The coffee table. It is ugly and was inherited from a previous tenant of the first apartment I had in Baltimore. It needs to go.
The dog crate. Lilah loves her crate. She sleeps in it at night and often during the day too. She goes to her crate when she is feeling stressed out or just needs her own space. It has to stay for Lilah's well-being, but it's so huge and we're not sure where to put it. It most likely will stay in its current place. We think that once the drafting table is gone it won't feel as big.
The stereo and Wii. We need a better piece of furniture than the ugly black cart they are currently sitting on.
As for the piles of crap, they will soon be on their way to Goodwill. Also, while it may appear as though we have guitars strewn all over the place, three of those will go back to their mounts on the wall behind the couch after the wall gets a second coat of paint.
I'll be updating you a bit as we continue this project. As for you, any huge undertakings that you've been doing lately?
Struggles in Creating a Cohesive Product Line
Heidi Shenk "cards" "etsy shop"
With a large amount of time available to really sit down and think through my designs, I have been able to be much more productive. I feel as though the quality of each design is getting better, leaving me wondering whether or not to do a complete overhaul of my shop. There are many designs that I am phasing out and replacing with some fresher items. This change is good, I think.
While I love these new items, I still feel as though a cohesive nature of my shop doesn't really exist. I tend to jump around from one thing to the next. I am inspired by so much that I have a hard time sticking to just one concept as a base in my design. Sometimes I wonder if this is a bad thing, but at other times I think it's good because I'm able to offer a variety of products to you all.
If you own a small design business, do you struggle with creating a cohesive feeling within your product line? And to those who are just customers, do you like having a variety of design styles to choose from?
While I love these new items, I still feel as though a cohesive nature of my shop doesn't really exist. I tend to jump around from one thing to the next. I am inspired by so much that I have a hard time sticking to just one concept as a base in my design. Sometimes I wonder if this is a bad thing, but at other times I think it's good because I'm able to offer a variety of products to you all.If you own a small design business, do you struggle with creating a cohesive feeling within your product line? And to those who are just customers, do you like having a variety of design styles to choose from?
Weekend Update
Heidi Shenk "photography" "weekend"
Happy Monday everyone! My weekend passed by quickly, but without much in the way of adventure. We spent a lot of time on the patio and roof deck, went to Andrew's firm's annual company picnic, and continued working on our basement project. On Friday I got some new camera gear, including a new lens that I had been wanting for quite some time. I spent some time playing with it, but have not had enough practice in yet to be perfect. Here's a work in progress.
Aside from the aforementioned, this weekend was really relaxing. It was the first weekend that I didn't work on anything in my shop since I can't even remember when. Weekends are meant to be enjoyed and I'm glad to have finally gotten back to a point where I can do just that.
What did you do during the weekend?
Aside from the aforementioned, this weekend was really relaxing. It was the first weekend that I didn't work on anything in my shop since I can't even remember when. Weekends are meant to be enjoyed and I'm glad to have finally gotten back to a point where I can do just that.What did you do during the weekend?