DIY: Magnetic Bathroom Rack

After having dinner at IKEA the other day (yes, we tend to eat there like it's a real restaurant. Don't judge... the $1 ice cream is like crack.) I found myself wandering amongst the kitchen accessories, as I tend to do. I have a difficult time ever leaving IKEA empty handed, and with a store a mere 15 minutes away, Tanner and I have bought all kinds of useless and wonderful things even when we probably shouldn't.

This particular trip I had an idea bouncing around in my head, and I was tempted to test it out. After snatching myself up a $9 magnetic knife rack from upstairs, I took it home and promptly installed it in my bathroom. (Edit: actually, Tanner installed it, because I couldn't find anchors for the screws and it kept pulling out of the wall, much to my annoyance.)

Why a metal knife rack in my bathroom, you might ask? Well, I have a terrible habit of leaving bobby pins all over the house, because you just never know when you're going to need a bobby pin. The trouble is, they're quite small and difficult to keep track of, so even when I round them up, I have no clever place to store them.

Are you seeing where I'm going with this? Enter: the FINTORP knife rack. I originally wanted it to keep tabs on my bobby pins, but it has actually turned out to be far more useful. Now it keeps track of my nail clippers, scissors, file, tweezers, and metal manicure set. Everything is within arm's reach but most importantly, it is off the counter top, which tends to get cluttered so quickly with bathroom paraphanalia.

Tanner loved the idea so much that he ran right out and bought himself another metal rack to install in his own bathroom. I laughed at his enthusiasm, because he doesn't own any bobby pins, but he did manage to rustle up some clippers and files and such to attach to his rack. And he came up with another clever idea: he added a magnet to the back of his weekly pill case, so his medicine is always at hand. I'm considering picking up some of those magnetic spice jars to add to the racks to keep track of other medicines and small beauty products in the bathroom.

What do you think? Has anyone else tried any clever IKEA hacks lately?

In Which We Spend an Unseasonably Warm May Day on our Bikes

It's amazing how the weather can change a mood. I don't think I realized what a slump I've been in until we received an unseasonably sunny week here in Portland.

Sun in May is rare, and sun for days at a time even more so. Oregonians have been practically giddy with joy lately, frolicking about outside as if Christmas came early (that is, if Christmas were 80 degrees and full of people wandering about in tank tops and short shorts.)

As for me, the sun this past week has completely woken me up. The long winter (despite the snowy days of skiing on Mt Hood, which were delightful) slowly hammered away at my resolve month after month. I've lived in hot, sunny climates all my life, so living in a city with overcast skies nine months of the year takes an emotional and physical toll on me. Don't get me wrong -- I love a good cold, rainy day, the kind that makes the air smell sweet and the world grow green around me. There are days when this is glorious.

But shut away the sun for months at a time and I slowly slip into melancholy doldrums. Work becomes tedious. I forget how to enjoy it. Days off feel few and far between. My active drive and productivity turn to lethargy. I sleep late and mope about the house. After a while it becomes habit, and I start to wonder,

is something wrong with me? Am I just tired of my job? I have no energy to do anything anymore... everything is exhausting.

I forgot what it was to have ambition, and wanderlust, and ideas. Everything becomes a gray mess, blurring together. I wish for change.

Soon it becomes routine, and I hardly notice the difference any more. People talk about "seasonal depression" and I just shrug and think it doesn't apply to me; this is just the way I am sometimes when work and life gets boring. It will pass when I find something more interesting to do with my time. But when?

And then I spent a week on the sunny East coast, and when I returned, there was sun in Portland. Sun. And blue skies. And warmth. And my mood suddenly lifted. It was like a shot of adrenaline that has been running through my blood stream for days -- I've been dancing around the house and listening to loud music with my car windows rolled down. I've been planning adventures, and dreaming of cookouts and lake houses and fireworks. I've been cleaning house with all the windows wide open, and remembering late night summer slumber parties, laughter with friends, the sound of wind chimes on the porch, and the smell of freshly cut grass. I've been craving bike rides and summer dresses and the deep, deep sleep of a body kissed by sunlight. I've been wondering why I forgot myself for so long.

It has been a long work week, but with one day off thrown in the mix we could barely resist the temptation to be outside. The usual oh, I don't know, maybe tomorrow's were drowned out by the sound of our bike tires squeaking as we threw them on the rack. And off we went, to north Portland where we rode 20 miles in the blazingly wonderful sun, chased Mt Hood into the horizon, and dreamed of the bigger life we would own someday.

We came home with sore asses and sunburns for our troubles, but it was well worth the happiness of today.

April is for Tulips

Last week Tanner and I found a beautiful day to visit the annual Tulip Festival in southern Portland.

This was also my first attempt at using my new polarizing filter for my camera, and it was something of a learning experience. I wanted it for darkening the blue in the sky and for bringing out stronger colors in the flowers, and it did this... but it also gave everything a very "yellow" cast. I accidentally left my white balance on "auto" instead of putting it to daylight, and I think my camera was trying to over-compensate for the polarizer's effect.

When I opened the files in my computer, it was strange to see the pretty colors of the tulips, green grass and blue sky turn into sickly shades of yellow and brown. I had to do some color correcting to bring back the blue hues, but even then, there's something a little "off" about my photos.

Here's an example: everything looks deep and colorful in this photo (the polarizer gave everything a crazy amount of saturation!), but the weird white balance gives everything an almost ominous look, as if a storm is brewing.

At any rate, I learned my lesson, and hopefully the next sunny day will bring out some more experimentation! One nice bonus about bringing the polarizer was that I got some good shots of Mt Hood, which otherwise would have been a washed-out white mountain on an overly bright washed out sky. The polarizer perfectly distinguished between white mountain and blue sky.

Anyone have any polarizer tips to share?

(P.S.- check out my photos from last year's Tulip Festival to see more flower beautifulness!)

Refrigerator Oatmeal

My mom sent me this recipe for refrigerator oatmeal a while ago, though I have since seen it go viral on Pinterest, I'm a big fan of cold oatmeal (see my weird facts page) so I had to try this one immediately. It turned out pretty yummy, and the best part is, there are an infinite number of iterations you can create with it! 

(P.S. - did you see my guest post at Julie Ann Art yesterday? If you want a delicious jam recipe just in time for strawberry picking season... click here!}

{refrigerator oatmeal}

Ingredients:

1/2 cup old fashioned oats (not quick or instant)
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (flavored or plain)
3 tsp Chia seeds (optional)
Toppings/add-ins

Basically your generic recipe is to add the oats, milk and Greek yogurt to a 16 oz mason jar and let the oats and chia seeds soak up the liquid in the refrigerator overnight. I haven't found Chia seeds at the grocery store yet, but they're a healthy add if you can find them at your local Whole Foods! Then add in whatever other fruits and flavors you like. The original website, via {the yummy life} has a bunch of different recipes and recommends these varieties of oatmeal:

• Mango almond
• Blueberry maple
• Apple cinnamon
• Banana cocoa
• Banana peanut butter
• Raspberry vanilla

I tried out the blueberry and the banana cocoa, with a few of my own "edits." Here's my recipe for the banana cocoa:

1/2 cup old fashioned oats
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup chocolate Greek yogurt
1 whole banana, cut into slices

Put everything into a jar, mix, and refrigerate overnight. I didn't have cocoa at my house, but I had a newly bought package of chocolate Greek yogurt that I figured would be perfect for the job. It was slightly blander than adding a sugary mix would have been, but still delicious!

I also tried a strawberry banana mix, with vanilla milk to add sweetness:

1/2 cup old fashioned oats
2/3 cup vanilla almond milk (slightly less than 2/3 cup so it's less runny)
1/2 cup chocolate Greek yogurt
1-3 whole strawberries, cut up
1/2 banana, cut up

This was my favorite; the strawberries definitely brought a delicious sweetness to the oatmeal!

And finally, here's my recipe for the blueberry maple:

1/2 cup old fashioned oats
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup blueberry Greek yogurt
1/2 cup blueberries (or enough to fill jar)
A dallop of maple syrup
1 whole banana, cut into slices (just for kicks. And because I like bananas.)

Verdict? The blueberry Greek yogurt + blueberries was intense. And I'm not so keen on the maple syrup, for some reason. Next time I may just make it with blueberries, banana, and vanilla Greek yogurt, instead.

I also have a few containers of Pomegranate and Lemon Greek yogurt in my fridge... sounds like it's time to concoct a new recipe!