Back in Action

After an extended intermission, I am thinking of taking this back up. A lot has been going on lately, the flowers are blooming, avocados are cheap, and life is good!

The nature of where I live lends itself to some pretty incredible and unique experiences. Only in DC can I touch Michael Phelps and Leon Panetta within four days of each other. Only in DC can I go to a Bay of Pigs Remembrance Party. Only in DC can I get together with friends over martinis and talk about bombs in Iran--and have it not be weird. Only in DC can I make a game out of dodging tourists and leaping over children while running.

In short, my life kicks ass. Prepare to get jealous.

She's Got the Whole World in Her Hand

As promised, I'm posting up my chalkboard globe. I ended up messing it up, had to completely strip the paint off and start fresh. Regrettably, the seams on the globe are a little messed up now, but there's a chance I will make another in the future. It was a fun project, and is a very cute decorating piece.

So I went on a mad hunt for this baby. I wasn't planning on buying a crappy globe online, because I didn't want to pay the shipping for something that I was essentially going to destroy. The thing about DC and Virginia, however, is that there are no good thrift stores that have reasonable weekend hours. Antique stores are a dime a dozen, but if I'm going to spend $110+ on it, I'm not going to spray it with chalkboard spray paint.

A smart thing to do before painting would have been to make cutouts of the land masses...that way there would be less guessing later on (and Greenland wouldn't have literally fallen off the map... hindsight's 20/20).  Anyways, this is where I live! Good ol' East Coast. This was just a day before Hurricane Irene paid us a visit. 

These are all the metal globe pieces painted silver. I didn't like the old dirty metal look they had going on. I figured silver would look very crisp against the black chalkboard.

First coat of the top half of the globe done. Chalkboard paint is super easy to spray on. It goes on pretty evenly, and doesn't take long to dry at all. I was impressed.

Eclipse?

This is it finished. Love her...being Mother Earth. And I put my little flag where DC is.

After e-mailing Seth and telling him that Greenland almost didn't make it on the map (the northern part of Canada was dangerously close to Europe), he reassured me that he heard Greenland was going to melt into the ocean anyways. My map is simply ahead of its time.

It's no wonder I like him so much <3

It started with a cheap globe from e-bay: $17...ended up with a pretty badass decorating piece for my room that everyone seems to love.

Grown-Ups

This is quite possibly my favorite comic of all time, and I thought I'd pay it forward to you lovely people. Brought to you by the genius of Randall Munroe at XKCD.


Anyways, as much of my family knows...I'm a grown-ass woman, and I care for someone very much. Do I bring this up? Do I let it be and evolve on its own?


There is no denying it when I hear his voice on the phone, see his name in my email, dream about him at night. 


Fuck the Atlantic Ocean, anyways!

MMs

I have decided that those candy-coated buttons of chocolatey heaven have got to be laced with some kind of addictive ingredient. Maybe they roll them around in a fair bit of crack before bagging them, but CHRIST! When it's that time of the month, and I decide I'm craving chocolate, even Obama would have to wait in line behind M&Ms for my attention.

"Excuse me, Mr. President. I don't mean to be rude, but there is a bag of M&Ms with my name on it."

I need to do something about this. In my quest for being healthy, Mars Candy is really doing me no favors...at least I can somewhat justify it when indulging in dark chocolate...rich in antioxidants...

I'm sure the DEA isn't concerned with the spread of candy-coated heaven.

Baking Therapy

I find baking to be cathartic for some reason. I don't know if it's the stirring motion that does it for me, but it works better than $100+ therapy sessions. And then there's some sugar therapy that lingers not far behind.


I've done my share of baking cookies, cupcakes, muffins, cheesecakes, shortbreads, pizza dough and more. However, I've always bought my pie crusts for some reason. Hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated oils have been stricken from my diet, except when I need to bake something in a pie crust. For some reason, it's always store bought for me.


In an effort to lead a healthier life (I type this as I'm eyeing my second glass of white wine, by the way), I decided to make my own!!


It was a savory crust, and it was SOOOOOOO worth making from scratch. Holy crap.


My recipe was as follows:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter (cold)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar 
• 4 Tbsp ice water
• Thyme (I just judged by how much I wanted to include)

All was done in a food processor. I put the butter in the freezer and then cut it into half inch cubes when ready. First the flour goes in, then the butter. Cut it all together in the processor and add sugar and salt (it should look mealy or grainy). Slowly add the tablespoons of water until it comes together as a dough. It may not take all the ice water. Mine came up about half a tablespoon short.

Then wrap it up and toss it in the fridge for at least an hour. Once it's ready, preheat the oven to 350degrees. Toss some flour on a large flat surface and break out with that good ol' rolling pin! Don't be afraid to beat your dough a little...I had to. That thing was so stiff...but seeing the butter scattered throughout made me realize it was going to be worth it!

Once in a nice round shape (enough to fit in a 9-inch pie pan), just dump that sucker in the pan and bake it.

So this is more or less what my crust looked like before I put the filling in. The edges got nice and golden brown when it all went in the oven the second time.

This was my tomato pie filling. Onions, garlic, mushrooms, thyme, and a shit ton of tomatoes. Topped it all off with a nice egg and parmesan cheese layer. DEEEEEEEELISH!

Bucket List

1. Scuba dive
2. Become fluent in French
3. Drive a Delorean
4. Climb Mr. Kilimanjaro
5. Hang glide
6. See "Breakfast at Tiffany's"
7. Pet a sloth
8. Beat Legend of Zelda
9. Make creme brulee
10. Bike across America
11. Participate in a triathlon
12. See Niagara Falls
13. Beat Lolo
14. Eat some delicious Moroccan food
15. Make a towel rack
16. Donate hair three times (2/3rds complete)

I'm sure there's more to come!

Easily the best argument I've heard.

It's the small battles.

Q: How many KMargses does it take to screw in a light bulb?

My room has sockets for four lights in the tall ceiling, but only two had functioning bulbs in them. In all truthiness, one of the "sockets" is a gaping hole and has been covered in very attractive black electrical tape. Tired of the imbalance in my room, I resolved this morning to conquer my fear of heights, bust out with the ladder in the basement and fix that third light.

I was thorough in my preparations for setting up the ladder to ensure that I would not fall off and break my neck. Then I gingerly ascended the eight-foot ladder...that shit's scary, man! Once I came in arm's reach of the offending light bulb, I attempted to unscrew it. However, the bulb seemed a bit cozy in its home and was unwilling to come out. Since the lights are recessed in the ceiling and I could only screw that damn bulb out a fraction of a centimeter at a time, I knew the ladder was going to be my new home for a good fifteen minutes.

Love it.
Own it.

Just don't look down...

After a bit of sweet talking and pleading, it finally came out, and I quickly screwed in the new bulb. After making my victorious decent, I went for the glorious test-run...which was anything but glorious as the light did not turn on!

Eye-rolling ensued.

Unwilling to admit defeat, I trudged back down into the basement to get a different kind of light bulb. I mustered up the courage to venture back up that ladder. In much the same fashion (but perhaps a bit more experienced this time), I extracted the bulb I had just installed and replaced it with the second new one.

With a cliche "And God said, let there be light!" I flicked on the switch...

...and there was light.

A: One. Because KMargs is a badass.

The Purpose

So this is the fulfillment of a request made by my Aunt Mary. At my graduation party, she impressed upon me that she would like to be able to keep up with my life through my eyes--how I live it. We tell people about our days in such a fashion that it becomes very mechanical. "I did this, and this and this." "This person pissed me off today." "The weather was better today." Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Aunt Mary, I apologize that this has taken so long to come about, but I really wanted to find an angle. Honestly, I live my life twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The things I do on a daily basis do not seem interesting to me, even though they may seem exciting to the standards of others (by simple virtue of the city I live in).

My angle, therefor, is my own quest for self-fulfillment and the pursuit of happiness (America, fuck yeah!). I already live a pretty healthy lifestyle, but I want to continue down that path and possibly improve. I want to share pictures. I want to do crafts. I want to take classes. I want to share music. I want to pay things forward. I want to be happier. I want to be smarter. Most of all, I want to share all this with you.

Please, join me on my journey. Let me know what you think.

Live life and be merry!