...That's not great.

Someone cares what you had for lunch.

I know that Maggie would like us to believe that No One Cares What You Had for Lunch; but this time, I'm going to risk it.

I have never really been the kind of person who goes "out" for lunch. Yes, I had (and still have) a few lunches with friends each month, but I usually just walked over to the nearby grocery store for a sandwich or salad. Even though that's still less expensive than going out to a traditional restaurant, it still adds up.

So, combine my desire to save a few bucks and going on the South Beach diet. It pushed me to start packing my lunch most days of the week. It took me well over a year to figure out the best way to organize what I needed for the day. I had a number of go-to lunches and would also schedule our family's meal plan in order to optimize the left-overs for my lunch.

I HAZ MY LEFTZOVER LAZAGNA. Yum.

About two months ago I decided to search for THE PERFECT lunch bag/tote to make my lunch nirvana complete. I had some tough needs - I have a particular storage container that I use for salad - and it needed to fit in the bag.

I found it - in Built NY bags. One of their bags had the correct dimensions AND had enough room to carry everything I would need.

Oh, hi! Here's the bag. (PS. It's a Gourmet Getaway.)

And here's all the crap I'm able to stuff into it every day. Well, for tomorrow's meals anyway.

(Clockwise from the banana and apple: rice/beans (lunch), eggs/beans (breakfast), pico de gallo for rice/beans and egg/beans, yogurt, cheese, carrots and radishes.)

(Yes, I pack my breakfast, too. I just can't get me AND the kids ready AND eat breakfast AND get out of the house on time. I pack this all the night before.)

(Yes, it IS weird that I eat beans with my eggs, but DAMN, it's good.)

(Yes, that's homemade pico de gallo, via The Pioneer Women Cooks.)

Now, just HOW do I get all this in that bag?

Pretty simple. It's like bricklaying. First layer.

Layer two.

Top with fruit. DUH.

Then zip it up. Oh, I didn't mention it has a zipper?

I am, apparently, a lunch nerd. Carry on.

YOU DECIDE: welcome to my kitchen.

We moved into our current home in spring of 2004. Our house is a pretty basic layout - your classic split-entry home of the 1970s. Right before we purchased the house; it underwent a complete remodel (it was flipped, really). So, while the layout and exterior look of the house is old-skool, the interior is pretty much new (or WAS new 5 years ago). RD and I both got (pretty much) what we wanted - he got a "rec-room" downstairs and I got an updated interior.

Plus? Our living room furniture pretty much exactly matched the fireplace. (Picture is from March 2004 - Bubba is only 10 months old!).

Now, onto my kitchen and the dilemma at hand. I love the modern and simple look of the cabinets and the overall layout and size.

Here's looking into my kitchen from where you would enter the house.

Looking further to the left - here's the dining area. We added that window about 2 years ago and can't imagine NOT having it. (Is that my beloved MacBook there???)

Turn 180 degrees from here and you'll be looking at the oven and refrigerator (our sad, small, and NOT STAINLESS STEEL refrigerator).

Turn another 90 degrees to your right and BOOM; there's the pantry/desk area. (PS. Does anyone actually use the desk area in their kitchen? Like really sit there and pay bills, work on their laptop? Doubtful.)

It's here that I need your help. The issue at hand is that the cabinets doors on my pantry are showing some wear in the location where we open the cabinets. (This picture shows the top of the bottom cabinet doors and the bottom of the top section of cabinet doors. Got it?)

See? There's no other good way to get the doors open - except to sort of grab between the doors and pull them open; hence the wear and tear.

I do not want to add pulls on ALL the cabinet doors in the kitchen, but what about adding them just to the pantry doors? The Sister was not too hot to trot on the idea; I respect her advice for lots of reasons - one being she's fantastic and the other being she just underwent a complete remodel of her kitchen.

Now, what do YOU all think? Can I get away with just cabinet pulls on these doors? (If so, where should they be placed and what should they look like?) What other options do you think I would have? These are not "real" wood cabinets so simply sanding and re-staining is not an option.

Internets? I need your help.

Bubbles.

This weekend gave me hope for many summer weekends filled with f. Friday evening I finally finished painting the kitchen. I had just one more wall to complete, and it had been mocking me for MONTHS. Saturday was a bit rainy, and in the morning the kids rain errands with RD and Bubba figured out how to play games on Sesame Street. A mellow day, but we got out in the evening to attend a fun birthday party that just plain wiped the kids out. Which is always a good thing.

Then Sunday brought sun; glorious SUN. The kids and I had a lazy morning, while RD worked on a list of mosquito tasks: siliconing all the door hinges, adding molding underneath the door to the garage, putting out the deck furniture, getting the oil changed and more.

We went out to the deck to play with the bubbles the kids received from the previous evening's birthday party.

   

They love to blow bubbles. And, frankly, I can't blame them.

   

I would love to have Sissy's hair; because come on. RD's genes are good for at least one thing: curly hair.

Completing my kitchen painting process energized me to get some additional spring cleaning done. I moved and cleaned under and the sides of both the stove and the refrigerator (PS. NASTY). I hung a bulletin board in the kitchen. I wiped down the kitchen cabinets. I packed up and stored my winter sweaters. I folded and put away three loads of laundry.

And then I weeded the front yard.

The bubbles were more fun.

The Polaroid has been destroyed.

Inspiration abounds!  Merry Mishaps has taken a vow to organize a bit every day in November, creating her very own NaBloCleanMo.  Seeing the changes she has made prompted me to tackle a few places in my home.  Last night it was the master bath; namely, MY part of the master bath (God bless he who created double sinks!).  After a trip to Target, I had my supplies and was ready to go.

First, I tackled the top drawer.  Whatever could be shoved in here, was.  In theory, it is meant to hold hair stuff, make-up, etc.  Here is it before and after.  Yes, that is a Polaroid, and, no, I'm not going to tell you what it is.

    

I put all my hair ties and clips in the very back, sorting through all the make-up (getting rid of a bunch - let's be honest, I'm never going to wear purple eye liner), and then putting my contacts and glasses at the very front. I have a new pair of contacts every day, so I need somewhere to store a weeks worth at a time.  Oh, and PS: if you use rubber bands for your hair, get these from Sephora.  You'll thank me.

On to the middle drawer (I actually get one side of the sink and all the drawers 'cause I'm a girl!): hair appliances (and, apparently, Breathe Right Strips).   

    

I got rid of everything but the two items I use regularly - my blow dryer and my 1-inch ceramic curling iron (for my Whoorl hair).  Don't worry, I didn't get rid of the flat iron, it's just stored away under the sink.

Oh lord, under the sink.  It's bad.  I don't like to run out of product, so I always have back-up under the sink, but could you find anything in here? 

    

I did a lot of dumping of old and/or crappy product.  Samples, stuff I didn't like or don't use anymore; you get my drift.  This is where I used the bins and containers I purchased from Target (I only spent $15).  I was able to put hair appliances in the very back, my travel bags (and travel size products) on the bottom and then line up all the other products I had for easy viewing. 

Ahh, I feel better already.