Kristin van Ogtrop's Blog, page 387
December 9, 2010
I Capture the Castle: Part 2
Hi, Bookies:
I'm going to tell you something that shows, I think, just how attached I'm getting to these characters: When Cassandra wrote that this would be her last time performing her beloved Midsummer Eve rites, I thought, Oh, no! Then I got really wistful for her passing childhood. And then I thought, um, Maura, this is fiction.
But that's how engaging a narrator I find Cassandra. I think she's very self-aware to realize that she had to put her rites aside because, as she said it, "if I ever held them again I should be 'playing with the children.' " (This is how I imagine her around her bonfire—though minus the fairies.) At that moment, she pretty much takes her last steps out of childhood and into adulthood. But, then, she has made smart/funny observations throughout the book (of course, having the advantage of being authored by a grown woman). Some of my favorites:
• "Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression."
• "The last stage of a bath, when the water is cooling and there is nothing to look forward to, can be pretty disillusioning. I expect alcohol works much the same way."
• "I wish I could have had that food when I wasn't at a party, because you can't notice food fully when you are being polite. "
As endearing as I'm finding Cassandra, her father is quite irritating me. What's up with him? What, exactly, is he working on so secretively, and why is he allowed to treat his family as poorly as he does? And while we're at it, why do you suppose Smith sent him to jail, and why did she feel the need to kill off the mother? Would the story have been different if she hadn't died? Though I would have sorely missed Topaz, who is just a wonderful creation (as is the Vicar; I'd love to have dinner with him).
And then there's Rose, for whom a beard makes all the difference between being in love or not. Do you find her calculating or just emotionally naive? That kiss between Simon and Cassandra would seem to complicate all these relationships, especially since there appears to be more to it than a spur-of-the-moment response to the music and the dancing. And, of course, Cassandra's first kiss is bittersweet, coming as it does from her sister's fiance, and just as Cassandra and Rose are discovering how much they actually care for each other. (By the way, do you believe Cassandra when she says, most vociferously, that she does NOT ENVY ROSE?)
So now the question is, does Simon really love Rose—or is it Cassandra? Does Rose really love Simon—or is it Neil? And does Cassandra love Stephen—or is it Neil. . .or is it Simon?!
Just like last time, we broke off in a place that's guaranteed to keep me reading—you, too, I hope. For next Friday, let's read through to the end.
See you then, Bookies. Enjoy your weekend.
—Maura
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Has a Boyfriend Ever Tried to Give You a Used Gift?
A reader named Ricky7 faces a dilemma: "My boyfriend and I have been friends for years before we started dating. During his last deployment, he brought home some beautiful jewelry. He loves sapphires, so he bought a few. Last summer, shortly after he broke up with his previous gf, he tried to give me a necklace. I couldn't take it. We had only started dating, and it didn't seem right. Christmas is coming up, and he's hinted that I'm getting the necklace. While it's a beautiful piece of jewelry, if I get it, I'm not sure how to hide my disappointment. He didn't pick out something special for me, he's giving me something he's had lying around and tried to get rid of before. Is there anything I can do to say I'd rather have something special he picked out for me, rather than the necklace he's already tried to give me before?"
Yes, Ricky7, you can be honest and tell him exactly what you just told me: that hand-me-down jewelry dredges up the ghosts of girlfriends past. Or.... you could give him the benefit of the doubt. He's a soldier, and by "deployment" I am not sure if you mean he's currently overseas, but if so, he may not have a lot of time to go shopping.
Put yourself in his combat boots. He's a guy. Which means he has no idea you feel this way. He's not trying to insult you. He's not thinking about how shopping for just the right gift to please a particular person means more. He's thinking he spent a lot of money on something beautiful, and it's special to him, and so are you, so he wants you to have it.
Be good-humored about it. Accept the gift for what he means it to be, not for what you interpret it to be.
But if you break up, keep the necklace, if only to spare his next girlfriend an uncomfortable situation.
How common is this problem? Has a boyfriend ever tried to give you something he took back from an ex-girlfriend? If so, how did you handle it?
(image courtesy of marcinmoga, via flickr)
It's Okay To Have Exceptions To Your Uncluttering Rules
I realized recently that I follow a lot of rules that dictate and guide my uncluttering and organizing behavior. Most of these rules are small, some even ridiculous:
Just because you have clean underwear still in the drawer is not an excuse to procrastinate doing the laundry.
Get rid of an object if it is broken or damaged for more than six months.
Dinner isn't done until the dishes are in the dishwasher.
As humans, we like rules. We like to know that we should do X. We like to be able to look at the world and know how to behave in it.
Except, life doesn't fit neatly into a world that can be completely governed by rules of behavior. And, we don't always follow the rules we set. For instance, just last night, I got up from dinner and put my son to bed instead of taking the time to put the dishes in the dishwasher. I didn't get around to doing that chore until after breakfast this morning.
If you have rules that help you unclutter and organize your home -- such as getting rid of clothing that no longer fits or having a place for everything and putting everything in its place -- remember that it is okay to have exceptions. You might have a vase you never use, but that you don't want to give away. So, make an exception and keep the vase. You'll be okay.
Don't beat yourself up over a few exceptions -- just be careful that these exceptions don't become the rules.
December 8, 2010
Fabulous Holiday Gift Ideas For All Your Favorite Ladies
If you're anything like me, your holiday shopping isn't finished until the last minute. Sometimes I just can't decide what to get certain people. Oy!
But never fear--I've rounded up some amazing gift ideas that will hopefully help you--and me--cross all the ladies off our lists. Check them out...
Big Skinny Metallic wallets, $45-$60
I love this company for their amazingly thin and stylish leather wallets and this holiday season they have introduced a limited edition metallic collections. Brilliant! Plus, Real Simple readers get FREE shipping with this code "REALSIMPLE"
Molly M Designs Pod 2 earrings, $36
Spruce felt, bamboo and sterling silver come together beautifully in these botanical inspired earrings--perfect for the "earth-mother" type on your shopping list.
The Native American print on this wool blend and faux fur collar coat is a great alternative to the black or grey standby.
White + Warren fingerless cashmere gloves, $95
Stay warm and functional (texting friendly) in these comfy cashmere gloves. And don't forget the bling--the art deco embellishments finish the look!
This is the sophisticated version of that treasured macaroni necklace from years ago. Wear it with a simple black dress or sweater for extra pop!
Need Supply Batwing cardigan, $88
This dolman sleeve cardigan is the essential cold weather companion and it will definitely come in handy when traveling on plane, train or by automobile!
Canopy Verde Pomelo Clutch, $85
This eco-friendly clutch (organic cotton, leather tanned without harmful chrome, chemical free embroidery) can be worn in two different ways and comes in 3 different colors.
Tis' the season for velvet and what better way to wear it then in this bold classic peacoat.
The soft swirly pattern in each of these bracelets make me swoon. How about you?
Aren't these the cutest tote bags you've ever since? I'm sure half the people on your list would be thrilled to find one of these bags under the tree with their name on it!
Emma Carroll Etc leather feather earrings, $60
A cluster of multi-colored leather strips will brighten any hum-drum outfit year round!
Ricky's Designs silver clutch, $48
This silver beauty looks like it could be paired with just about anything--a cocktail dress, jeans and a pretty blouse for date-night...brunch with the girlfriends...etc.
Out Of Print Tees and Sweatshirts, $28 and $38
My favorite novelty tee-shirt company is now doing sweatshirts...yipee! Some of your favorite iconic and out-of-print book covers are now a certified fashion statment. So smart!
Happy gifting!
The D-Dilemma: Deciphering the News on Vitamin D
Seems like every time you turn around there's new information about the ever-vital vitamin D.
The most recent recommendations from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) were released last week, and for the first time in ten years, they've boosted the optimal daily amount a lot: going from 200-400 IUS to 600 IUs, for adults ages 19-70.
It's been previously reported that millions of Americans are seriously short on D and while the IOM actually finds that most of us are doing okay, there are many experts who still disagree, especially when it comes to women. (As for calcium, people need between 700 milligrams and 1,300 milligrams per day depending on their age.)
This important vitamin -- which helps to regulate bone development, muscle function, immune function, insulin activity, calcium balance, and phosphorus balance -- can be had in a variety of ways. You can get it from your diet, in items such as salmon, fortified milk, and eggs. Trouble is, many of us just don't get there from food alone.
The other way is from the sun. A handful of minutes a day in sunlight allows your body to naturally manufacture the substance. But, um...isn't the sun and its rascally rays an unequivocablely bad thing? As in: never leave home without sunblock?!! (Sunblock interferes with D production because it blocks the UVB rays that spur synthesis.) What's more, during the winter in many parts of the globe those rays just aren't as plentiful or strong, nor are we galavanting outside as much. And for people with darker skin, it's even more difficult to get enough because they are not able to naturally synthesize as much D.
So, what to do: Unless you're definitely diligent about getting your D via your diet, take a supplement which pairs Calcium and D. (They go hand-in-hand because without enough D, your body can't effectively absord calcium from foods.) Some of the sweet chews on the market today are downright delicious -- the new chocolate truffle-flavored Soft Chews from Caltrate have have 400 IU of D (what you'd get from six servings of fortified milk) and 600 mg of calcium (the equivalent of 17 servings of broccoli). (Viactiv Chews, by comparison, have 20% less calcium per chew, at 500 mg. Then again, their caramel flavored chew is seriously almost as good as a real caramel!)
For a more complete -- and certainly a more visual -- understanding of all this, surf on over to the really cool website Information is Beautiful. London-based author, data journalist and "information designer" David McCandless combines hard data with cool graphics to make even the most complex subjects uniquely satisfying and easy-to-understand.
Check out these clever visual representations of the vitamin D debate, below.
Do You Make Your Bed Everyday?
I was catching up on my blog reading last night and came acroos this post on The Peak of Chic about how the art of making your bed has changed. It's clearly become a lot more complicated.
Maybe that's the reason that I was never one to actually make my bed, which for some reason people always found surprising. That changed when I moved last spring. I made it a kind of "new apartment resolution" that I would make my bed every.single.day. I agree with Gretchen Rubin that making your bed is a key to happiness.
So, I've stuck to my resolution, with only one or two exceptions. And both of those days I've had friends (who hadn't yet seen the apartment) unexpectedly stop by. So I've learned my lesson that bed-making is worth the extra few moments.
Now I want to know, do you make your bed?
Do You Make Your Bed Everyday?Market Research
(Photo from StyleAtHome.com found via Bright.Bazaar on Pinterest)
December 7, 2010
Happy New Year (Reading)!
Hi, Bookies:
Oh, yes, it's our first pick of 2011, from an interesting quartet of choices. These come from Danielle Virgin, an integral part of RealSimple.com's IT team and January's discussion leader. Be sure to vote for your favorite by 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, December 19. Thanks, everyone!
Ellington Boulevard, by Adam Langer
A colorful multicharacter cast crowds a funny yet poignant story that revolves around a hot topic: real estate. Or in this case, an underpriced Manhattan apartment in an overinflated market.One Day, by David Nicholls
One day in 1988, Dex and Em meet, only to go their own ways. Is that the end of their relationship? Over the next two decades we get snapshots of their lives as they stand on one day each year: July 15. Witty, charming, and heartbreaking, this was one of the most buzzed-about books of 2010.
Nothing Is Quite Forgotten in Brooklyn, by Alice Mattison
Told in two long vignettes, Mattison's ninth book is a gripping mix of intrigue and family dynamics, as a woman tries to unravel the mystery of her mother's death.
Family Planning, by Karan Mahajan
Family is also at the heart of this debut novel, which examines the life of an Indian civil servant—and father of 13—and asks whether even the ordinary is not in its own way extraordinary.
What Should We Read in January?Market Research
What I Learned About Lining Baking Pans With Parchment Paper
This weekend, I did something I haven't done in a long, long time—I baked. Specifically, I baked the Real Simple Raspberry-Walnut Crumble Bars, which I've been dying to make ever since our cookie shoot way back in October.
The bars came out well—more on that later—but I did get slightly tripped up on one thing: lining the 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. I've run into this issue with recipes before and never knew quite what to do.
I know how to handle a recipe that simply asks you to line the bottom of a pan: Just place your pan on top of the parchment, trace the bottom, then cut it out inside the lines and put the paper inside your pan (make sure to grease the pan before you put down the parchment, and grease the parchment once it's placed inside for extra insurance, too). Easy. (There's also a more professional way to cut out parchment to fit your circular baking pan that involves folding and then trimming your paper, but I think the tracing method is much easier.)
What confuses me, though, is when recipes ask you to line the pan—including the sides—with parchment. Recipes have various instructions for this step; I've seen "line the bottom and sides with foil or parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides;" or "line an 8x8-inch glass baking dish with parchment;" or "line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 5-inch overhang on all sides." How do you do this and achieve sharp, clean corners? If you try to place a large piece of parchment in your pan with enough left over to line the sides and leave some overhang (to help you lift out your brownies or bars or whatever), you'll end up with rounded corners and crinkled edges. As much as you try to squish the batter into every last crevice as smoothly as possible, there's no way to get a perfectly clean edge. Was there a special way of folding the paper I wasn't aware of? Some neat little origami magic only known to professional pastry chefs and food stylists?
Luckily, I knew where to turn. I asked Lygeia in our Food Department for advice, and she provided the rather obvious answer: Use two sheets of parchment paper. Cut the widths to match each side of your pan; place one sheet in the pan, then lay the other on top of it going in the opposite direction. Simple!
In the case of the Raspberry-Walnut Crumble Bars, however, this isn't necessary. The directions clearly state, "Line the pan with a piece of parchment, leaving an over-hang on two sides." You don't need to line the entire pan; you just need that extra paper on two sides so you can easily lift the bars out. I, of course, in my mad rush to make the bars, misread this and used one piece big enough to leave an over-hang on all four sides. And while they may not have turned out with perfectly sharp edges, they were still delicious.
A Few Words From the Author of The Postmistress
Hi, Bookies:
A couple of questions came up in your discussion of The Postmistress, and Sarah Blake was happy to answer them for you.
Question from Kristin Appenbrink: I wonder why Sarah Blake decided to leave all three of the main characters on their own in the end?
Sarah Blake: As so often happens when writing a novel, characters arrive at their fate often without the author planning or deciding on it! I knew that Frankie was going to be telling the story and I imagined that she was never going to be the type who settled down, somehow always roaming, always in search of the next story. Iris was the only character who might not have ended alone, but I grew more and more convinced that the novel needed to end with her cutting down the flagpole, and that that would be an act of grief. The only character I knew for certain from the beginning was going to lose her partner was Emma—she was always going to be an unwitting widow.
I do think, however, that Emma and Iris probably draw close to one another, remaining in town, Iris serving as a kind of godmother to Emma's child. So they are not perhaps, entirely alone.
Question from a few readers: Why is the book called The Postmistress? Is it named after Iris or did the author consider Frankie a postmistress too?
SB: The question as to the name of the novel is a great one, and it is quite possibly the one most often asked! On the literal level, you remember that it is Frankie who tells us this story—the war story she never filed—and it was she who first called Iris a "postmistress," though Iris has always insisted on herself as "postmaster." So the book takes its title from Frankie.
On the larger level, yes, I do think Frankie is the postmistress as well, and that both women slip from their "official" roles—as postmaster who always delivers the news, as reporter who always reports the news—when faced with a letter they find they can't deliver. Somehow, I think the word postmistress registers this slippage.
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5 Fast and Inexpensive Holiday Decorating Ideas
Between work and family obligations, long to-do lists, gift shopping and addressing holiday cards, it's a wonder we still find time to decorate our homes for the holidays. On Saturday we bought our Christmas tree and put it in the stand, but it wasn't until last night that my boys and I placed the final ornament. The whole decorating process is taking longer this year because I'm in a new house and all of my ornament boxes were stacked up in the attic beside my college text books and inherited crystal vases.
Truth is my work load is lighter than usual this month so I actually have more time available to decorate. But with less money coming in, I'm being choosy about how I'm spending it. I made a commitment to buy only a Christmas tree and two wreaths. Nothing more. I'm challenging myself to reuse stuff I already have in new and different ways.
For advice and inspiration I turned to Gina Steingass of Grace Decors in Rochester, NY. "Unless your house is decorated like the Pottery Barn Holiday Issue," Gina says, "there is a fine line between sophisticated and hokey."
So what are some fast and inexpensive ways to deck the halls of your house or apartment? If you haven't started your decorating yet, no worries. Gina shared with me five of her favorite ideas:
1. Sugar rush. Candy comes in all different shapes, sizes, colors and textures. Simply use different glasses, vases or jars and place them in a line down the middle of your table for an instant centerpiece.
2. Go natural. Look to the produce aisle at your local grocery store for inspiration. Cranberries are Gina's favorite, but apples, plums, pears and pomegrantes will also do. Use your imagination and display your favorites in glass canisters or vases.
3. Modern meets traditional. Try a different color scheme and a twist on the traditional tree. Place sticks or twigs in a vase (Gina's taken the extra time to paint hers white) and trim the twigs with ornaments. Display as a centerpiece, on a buffet table or in an entryway.
4. Fabric art. Head to your local fabric store and pick out holiday themed fabrics. Place the fabric in a frame or cluster of frames and hang. It's quick, economical and adds a textural dimension to your walls. If you don't have time to get to the fabric store, holiday napkins, pieces of an old tablecloth or even dishtowels will work. The best thing about this idea is you can swap out the fabric after the holidays to change your look.
5. Pass the plate. Holiday platters and plates don't need to be used only as serving pieces. Group them together in a wall hanging or display them on counters, mantels, or buffets.
All photos courtesy of Gina Steingass, Grace Decors. 
